Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES: highlighting the role of the internet and social media

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES : highlighting the role of the internet and social media. / Jensen, Timm Juul; Auliya, Mark; Burgess, Neil David; Aust, Patrick Welby; Pertoldi, Cino; Strand, Julie.

In: Biodiversity and Conservation, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2019.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Harvard

Jensen, TJ, Auliya, M, Burgess, ND, Aust, PW, Pertoldi, C & Strand, J 2019, 'Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES: highlighting the role of the internet and social media', Biodiversity and Conservation, vol. 28, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1632-9

APA

Jensen, T. J., Auliya, M., Burgess, N. D., Aust, P. W., Pertoldi, C., & Strand, J. (2019). Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES: highlighting the role of the internet and social media. Biodiversity and Conservation, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1632-9

Vancouver

Jensen TJ, Auliya M, Burgess ND, Aust PW, Pertoldi C, Strand J. Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES: highlighting the role of the internet and social media. Biodiversity and Conservation. 2019;28(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1632-9

Author

Jensen, Timm Juul ; Auliya, Mark ; Burgess, Neil David ; Aust, Patrick Welby ; Pertoldi, Cino ; Strand, Julie. / Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES : highlighting the role of the internet and social media. In: Biodiversity and Conservation. 2019 ; Vol. 28, No. 1.

Bibtex

@article{073c5c2e52124c608fb2f3d3eb0f51d7,
title = "Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES: highlighting the role of the internet and social media",
abstract = "Globally, there is an extensive trade in snakes for pets, especially in the European and North American markets. This trade includes many African snakes, but few of these are present on CITES appendices, suggesting little regulation of this international trade. In this study, we assess the status of this unregulated trade, by analyzing export lists and private seller advertisements, collected by correspondence, monitoring and recording social media and online forums. Furthermore, by engaging with African exporters, we map the distribution of trading hubs involved in the international trade of African snakes. We show that the African snake trade is extensive and involves rare and range-restricted species, including species on the IUCN red list of threatened species. Furthermore, the internet and social media are shown to play an increasing role in the trade of exotic reptiles. We found 2.269 wild caught live African snakes from 42 species, present in 15 African countries, to have been advertised for sale between 2013 and 2017. Traded species were predominately venomous and the 23 most traded species were not CITES listed. Three main hubs for the live snake trade occur on the African mainland: Tanzania, Togo, and Egypt. By using publicly available data we demonstrate an extensive trade in snake species where basic biological knowledge and conservation status is often missing and the sustainability of this trade is questionable. To tackle this potentially detrimental trade we recommend detailed investigations aiming to understand current threats to snakes, especially focusing on species not regulated by international conventions.",
keywords = "CITES, IUCN red list, Pet trade, Reptile, Unregulated harvest",
author = "Jensen, {Timm Juul} and Mark Auliya and Burgess, {Neil David} and Aust, {Patrick Welby} and Cino Pertoldi and Julie Strand",
year = "2019",
doi = "10.1007/s10531-018-1632-9",
language = "English",
volume = "28",
journal = "Biodiversity and Conservation",
issn = "0960-3115",
publisher = "Springer",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploring the international trade in African snakes not listed on CITES

T2 - highlighting the role of the internet and social media

AU - Jensen, Timm Juul

AU - Auliya, Mark

AU - Burgess, Neil David

AU - Aust, Patrick Welby

AU - Pertoldi, Cino

AU - Strand, Julie

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Globally, there is an extensive trade in snakes for pets, especially in the European and North American markets. This trade includes many African snakes, but few of these are present on CITES appendices, suggesting little regulation of this international trade. In this study, we assess the status of this unregulated trade, by analyzing export lists and private seller advertisements, collected by correspondence, monitoring and recording social media and online forums. Furthermore, by engaging with African exporters, we map the distribution of trading hubs involved in the international trade of African snakes. We show that the African snake trade is extensive and involves rare and range-restricted species, including species on the IUCN red list of threatened species. Furthermore, the internet and social media are shown to play an increasing role in the trade of exotic reptiles. We found 2.269 wild caught live African snakes from 42 species, present in 15 African countries, to have been advertised for sale between 2013 and 2017. Traded species were predominately venomous and the 23 most traded species were not CITES listed. Three main hubs for the live snake trade occur on the African mainland: Tanzania, Togo, and Egypt. By using publicly available data we demonstrate an extensive trade in snake species where basic biological knowledge and conservation status is often missing and the sustainability of this trade is questionable. To tackle this potentially detrimental trade we recommend detailed investigations aiming to understand current threats to snakes, especially focusing on species not regulated by international conventions.

AB - Globally, there is an extensive trade in snakes for pets, especially in the European and North American markets. This trade includes many African snakes, but few of these are present on CITES appendices, suggesting little regulation of this international trade. In this study, we assess the status of this unregulated trade, by analyzing export lists and private seller advertisements, collected by correspondence, monitoring and recording social media and online forums. Furthermore, by engaging with African exporters, we map the distribution of trading hubs involved in the international trade of African snakes. We show that the African snake trade is extensive and involves rare and range-restricted species, including species on the IUCN red list of threatened species. Furthermore, the internet and social media are shown to play an increasing role in the trade of exotic reptiles. We found 2.269 wild caught live African snakes from 42 species, present in 15 African countries, to have been advertised for sale between 2013 and 2017. Traded species were predominately venomous and the 23 most traded species were not CITES listed. Three main hubs for the live snake trade occur on the African mainland: Tanzania, Togo, and Egypt. By using publicly available data we demonstrate an extensive trade in snake species where basic biological knowledge and conservation status is often missing and the sustainability of this trade is questionable. To tackle this potentially detrimental trade we recommend detailed investigations aiming to understand current threats to snakes, especially focusing on species not regulated by international conventions.

KW - CITES

KW - IUCN red list

KW - Pet trade

KW - Reptile

KW - Unregulated harvest

U2 - 10.1007/s10531-018-1632-9

DO - 10.1007/s10531-018-1632-9

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85053759198

VL - 28

JO - Biodiversity and Conservation

JF - Biodiversity and Conservation

SN - 0960-3115

IS - 1

ER -

ID: 242418561