New studies document online wildlife trafficking in the EU and highlight potential technological solutions

WWF and TRAFFIC are launching two reports related to the fight against wildlife cybercrime in the European Union. In the first study, researchers monitored social media and e-commerce websites focusing on the Belgian and Dutch markets for rare protected species of reptiles and birds between July and September 2019. They found more than 100 suspicious posts selling at least 93 bird and 94 reptile specimens in these two countries. The second report highlights potential technological solutions, such as data mining and machine learning software, to tackle wildlife cybercrime in the EU.