Activity 3.7 – Wildlife Trafficking Online

March 29, 2023

Section A: Species 1

Common name: Grey Parrot
Scientific name: Psittacus erithacus
IUCN Category: Endangered
Geographic range: The Grey Parrot is native to parts of East and West Africa stretching from Côte d'Ivoire, all the way into parts of Uganda and Kenya, and down into The Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bird is also completely extinct in Benin and Togo (IUCN).
Habitat: The three main habitats of Grey Parrots are forests, savannahs, and artificial or terrestrial areas such as rural gardens. Though they generally reside in dense forests, they can also be seen at forest edges, clearings, gallery forest, mangroves, wooded savannah, and cultivated areas (IUCN).
Assessment information: Grey Parrots were classified as vulnerable in 2012 and 2013 and endangered in 2016, 2017, and 2018, with their current population still decreasing. This is the result of a combination of habitat loss and excessive harvesting for international trade (IUCN).
Threats: The main threats Grey Parrots face is habitat loss and trafficking and trading. The birds are extremely popular as pets in places like Europe, the US, the Middle East, and China. This high demand causes an excessive amount of harvesting, which also comes with a high mortality rate ()IUCN.
Use and Trade: They are used locally, nationally, and internationally as pets, and locally and nationally for food (IUCN).
Appendix listing and related countries with Source Code(s): Appendix listing: I , Democratic Republic of the Congo: R, Saudi Arabia: R, Liechtenstein: W (IUCN), (CITES)
URL for the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E6Fcf3oflVdNY5fvjYovXYnIuRZupyP85OSDaCzIYMw/edit#gid=0

Section A: Species 2

Common name: Axolotl
Scientific name: Ambystoma mexicanum
IUCN Category: Critically endangered
Geographic range: This species originated from lakes in the Mexican Central Valley, such as Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco (IUCN).
Habitat: This species typically resides in deep, freshwater wetlands or artificial aquatic environments with an abundance of aquatic vegetation. These include freshwater lakes, water storage areas, canals, drainage channels, and ditches (IUCN).
Assessment information: The axolotl has been classified as critically endangered since 2006 vulnerable from 1996 to 2004, and rare from 1986 to 1994. This severe decline in population (more than 80% in 16.5 years) is due to urbanization, subsequent pollution, predation, and competition for resources with invasive species (IUCN).
Threats: Threats to the axolotl include residential and commercial development, biological resource use, invasive species and disease, and pollution. The main threat to the species is the destruction and pollution of their native home in the lake systems of Xochimilco and Chalco due to increased urbanization and tourism (IUCN).
Use and Trade: Locally, the axolotl is used for medicine and food, and nationally and internationally they are used for research, and kept as pets (IUCN).
Appendix listing and related countries with Source Code(s): Appendix listing: II (IUCN)
URL for the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E6Fcf3oflVdNY5fvjYovXYnIuRZupyP85OSDaCzIYMw/edit#gid=0

Section B

After browsing the IUCN website for a while, I searched for certain animals in the pets community of craigslist to find possible traffickers. Many of my searches yielded no results. It seems like sellers who know they are selling trafficked animals name and describe their posts carefully to avoid getting flagged or reported. Sellers also use the word “re-homing” as opposed to “selling” or “for sale”. It is hard to tell with the specific craigslist ads I chose, if they are actually examples of trafficking or if the animal was bred in captivity. I did come across another ad for a grey parrot which had an extensive description of the bird and her personality with images of her in the seller’s home. In contrast, the post I used had a very limited description, and in the photos, the bird appears to be in a large room with multiple cages or enclosures. Between the two, I thought it was more likely that the second seller was a trafficker. As expected, many of the ad descriptions in the data sheet also use the word “rehoming” and almost every ad includes that there will be a small “rehoming fee,” instead of listing a price because posts clearly selling animals will get flagged. This activity has really revealed just how much trafficking and ethically questionable animal trading goes on all around us.