Social media platform Facebook has found an alarming amount advertisements for wild animals on its site, and is increasing its efforts to take them down as soon as they go up.
The online sales of wild animals is thriving throughout Asia.
Facebook prohibits the selling of animals on its site, yet the World Wildlife Fund told Reuters it had counted 2,143 wild animals from 94 species for sale on the platform, from Myanmar alone.
In recent months, about 500 posts, accounts, and groups offering animals for sale were taken down by Facebook.
Asia has a high demand for wild animals as exotic pets, or to be used in traditional medicine.
‘We are committed to working with law enforcement authorities around the world to help tackle the illegal trade of wildlife,’ a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters.
It seems the outbreak of diseases potentially transmitted from animals to humans like COVID-19 has not decreased the illegal trade in wildlife. In fact, Jedsada Taweekan, a regional programme manager for the World Wildlife Fund, said that the amount of wildlife sold online had approximately doubled since 2015.
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