Monitoring the Trade of Legally Protected Wildlife on Facebook and Instagram Illustrated by the Advertising and Sale of Apes in Indonesia

Nijman, Vincent; Smith, Jaima H.; Foreman, Grace; Campera, Marco; Feddema, Kim; Nekaris, K.A.I.

doi:10.3390/d13060236

Cited by 21 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…For analysis, we only include sellers that were based in Java, Bali or Lombok. Instagram profiles were often active for less than the duration of study period; if a profile was shut down but emerged later under the same or a slightly different name, it was included as one profile (see Nijman et al [35] for details). This amounted to a total of 19 Instagram profiles.…”

Section: Instagram Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The few significant traders who posted on multiple Facebook pages were easily detected and their posts were included only once. Likewise, we assume that birds of prey offered by different sellers on Instagram represent different individuals (for details, see [35]).…”

Section: Data Preparation and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Facebook and Instagram, in their terms and conditions, make it very clear that the sale of live animals, protected species or globally threatened species is not permitted. As with other taxa, ranging from turtles to orangutans [26,28,35,50], it is evident that neither Facebook nor Instagram effectively implement their own policies.…”

Section: Overview Of Trade Of Birds Of Prey In Indonesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Facebook's terms and policies, listings may not promote the buying or selling of animals or animal products, and this includes live animals, livestock and pets. Instagram has a similar prohibitive policy referring to endangered wildlife [35].…”

Section: Seizures and Successful Prosecutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By including these other islands, undoubtedly, a larger range of species would have been detected. Thirdly, we only monitored public and open Facebook groups and not closed groups [35,51]. There are a number of closed wildlife trade Facebook groups and these may offer some of the rare birds of prey for sale.…”

Section: Monitoring the Trade Of Birds Of Prey In Indonesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Illegal Wildlife Trade in Traditional Markets, on Instagram and Facebook: Raptors as a Case Study

Nijman

Ardiansyah

Langgeng

et al. 2022

Birds

Self Cite

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Monitoring illegal wildlife trade and how the modus operandi of traders changes over time is of vital importance to mitigate the negative effects this trade can have on wild populations. We focused on the trade of birds of prey in Indonesia (2016–2021) in bird markets (12 markets, 194 visits), on Instagram (19 seller profiles) and on Facebook (11 open groups). We link species prevalence and asking prices to body size, abundance and geographic range. Smaller species were more traded in bird markets and less so online. Abundance in trade is in part linked to their abundance in the wild. Asking prices (mean of USD 87) are positively correlated with size and negatively with their abundance in the wild. Authorities seize birds of prey according to their observed abundance in trade, but only 10% of seizures lead to successful prosecutions. The trade is in violation of national laws and the terms and conditions of the online platforms; the low prosecution rate with minimal fines shows a lack of recognition of the urgency of the threat that trade poses to already imperilled wildlife. The shift of trade from physical bird markets to the online marketplace necessitates a different strategy both for monitoring and enforcement.

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Section: Instagram Surveysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Preparation and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overview Of Trade Of Birds Of Prey In Indonesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Seizures and Successful Prosecutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Monitoring the Trade Of Birds Of Prey In Indonesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Illegal Wildlife Trade in Traditional Markets, on Instagram and Facebook: Raptors as a Case Study

Nijman

Ardiansyah

Langgeng

et al. 2022

Birds

Self Cite

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Motivations behind wild animal consumption in social media in Mexico: A case study

Gutiérrez‐Ibarra,

Jiménez Lara,

Amador‐Cruz

et al. 2024

People and Nature

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Wildlife trade is a worldwide threat to biodiversity. It is a complex problem, and to deal with it, one must analyse its constituting factors, some of which are specific to certain geographic areas. Although Mexican laws have prohibited selling wild products, Mexico is still both a source and consumer of exotic wildlife; however, there is limited data on why people participate in this type of trade. This paper aims to understand people's motivations for participating in the wildlife trade. 192 surveys on a population segment unrelated to it and 30 in‐depth interviews were performed to determine the patterns of wildlife trade in Mexico. Finally, we performed two in‐person interviews with collectors of large‐scale animals. The outcomes demonstrated that Facebook was the social media showing more wildlife content. Most participants were aware of the diverse impacts of the animal trade, as well as, that offering, buying and having certain animals was a crime but were assuaged due to common knowledge that authorities do not investigate social media. Finally, based on the findings from the in‐person interviews, it was observed that the individuals engaged in heavy trafficking believed that their actions were altruistic in nature. We concluded that the primary motivations for wildlife trade in Mexico were economic status and prestige within their social groups. In that order, our study is a pioneering attempt to determine motivations in Mexico, which could be a basis for future regional studies. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Trade in Prevost’s squirrels: legality, risk for introduction and disease transmission

Nijman,

Abdullah,

Ardiansyah

et al. 2024

Eur J Wildl Res

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Squirrels traded for pets or consumption have the potential to be vectors for zoonotic disease transmission and to establish themselves as invasive species. Callosciurus spp. (Greek for beautiful squirrel) are popular in the pet trade due to their medium size and many colour variants, though several feral populations have established themselves in various parts of the world and these wild-caught individuals can carry and spread infectious diseases. Here, we investigate the live trade in Prevost’s squirrels (C. prevosti) in Indonesia where they are naturally found on the islands of Sumatra, Bangka and Borneo. Between 2016 and 2024, we recorded 284 Prevost’s squirrels for sale, viz., 115 in the physical markets and 169 online. We detected the species for sale in Sumatra (13 individuals), Bangka (7) and Borneo (3), i.e. within their natural range, but also on Java (242) and Bali (4). The mean asking price per individual was US$63, and younger individuals commanded higher prices than older ones. Asking prices were not higher in cities further away from the species’ native range nor in cities with higher purchasing power. All individuals were wild-caught, and with a domestic quota of five individuals allowed to be traded as pets per year (45 over the study period) most of this trade is illegal under Indonesian law. This is distinctly different from trade in Prevost’s squirrels in for instance Europe or the USA where legally captive-bred individuals are offered for sale. In Indonesia the illegal trade happens in the open and despite the risk of the spread of zoonotic diseases wherever it is traded there appears to be little incentive on the side of the authorities to curb this trade. Their widespread availability on Java and Bali risks the accidental or deliberate introduction on these two islands. Better coordination is needed between the Indonesian authorities, online sales sites, pet traders and consumers to stop the sale of illegally obtained Prevost’s squirrels to limit the risk of them becoming invasive species or contributing to the spread of emerging infectious diseases.

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Monitoring the Trade of Legally Protected Wildlife on Facebook and Instagram Illustrated by the Advertising and Sale of Apes in Indonesia

Cited by 21 publications

References 26 publications

Illegal Wildlife Trade in Traditional Markets, on Instagram and Facebook: Raptors as a Case Study

Illegal Wildlife Trade in Traditional Markets, on Instagram and Facebook: Raptors as a Case Study

Motivations behind wild animal consumption in social media in Mexico: A case study

Trade in Prevost’s squirrels: legality, risk for introduction and disease transmission

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