Illegal sale of endangered animal parts is prevalent on various popular websites such as Olx, Quikr, Amazon, and Ebay, said a government official. Online smuggling and sale of rare animals and their parts are being monitored by the state and central governments as part of combating cyber crime, said Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave. "Several websites are seen advertising sale of rare animals and their parts," Dave said in a written statement in the Rajya Sabha.
He also provided a list of 106 such websites collated by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in the upper house. The list contained the names of some prominent online portals such as Amazon, Snapdeal, Olx, Quikr, Ebay, and Youtube. He claimed that the government has been taking necessary steps to control this illicit trade.
A meeting with the representatives of such Online Portals was held earlier in May this year to discuss about assisting WCCB locate and stop such things following which Amazon reportedly removed more than 400 such items from its listings. While Amazon and Snapdeal claimed to have a much stronger control over the sellers, Olx and Quikr lacked any control over them. Reports claimed that the website were offering an array of wildlife products which included alligator heads, preserved snakes, butterflies, starfish, rare beetles and seahorses, besides various hunting manuals and devices.
Ebay claimed to have a strict policy against any wrongdoing through a statement. ”We have strict policies in place to stop the sale of products from endangered animals on the site. However, if any listing violation is found on the site, then not only is the listing removed, but the seller may also be subject to a range of other actions,” said an Ebay representative to the media.
Others are yet to issue any statements in the matter.