What was for sale? Of the 153 species we found, we verified 68 as containing psychoactive chemicals. We searched these marketplaces for keywords relating to wildlife trade and species names. We found over 3,000 advertisements selling wildlife species on dark web marketplaces between 20. Shutterstock What was being sold on the dark web? Magic mushrooms from the Psilocybe genus were commonly sold on the dark web. For instance, the frog toxin kambo used in the ritual that killed a Mullumbimby woman in 2019 is still sold openly. Why aren’t traders in illegal wildlife using the dark web? Mainly because the trade in illegally traded animals and animal parts is not hidden – it’s all over the open internet.
#Conversations in the dark skin#
There were only a small number of advertisements offering vertebrates such as the infamous Colorado River toad, which faces poaching pressure because its skin secretes psychoactive toxins as a defence. These were almost entirely plants and fungi with psychoactive effects, indicating they are part of the well-known dark web drug trade. The result? Across 51 dark web marketplaces, we found 153 species being sold. We wanted to see what types of wildlife were being sold there. Most people associate the dark web with illicit drug marketplaces. In our new research, we probed the dark web – the secretive section of the internet deliberately set up out of view of search engines. It puts yet more pressure on nature, adds to biodiversity loss and threatens biosecurity, sustainable development and human wellbeing globally. Endangered birds with very few left in the wild. The internet has made it easier for people to buy and sell a huge variety of wildlife – from orchids, cacti and fungi to thousands of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish, as well as insects, corals and other invertebrates.īut alongside legal trade in wildlife, there’s a dark twin – illegal trading of wildlife. University of Adelaide provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU. Stringham previously received funding from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.
He is affiliated with the National Tertiary Education Union. Jacob Maher previously received funding from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions. Phill Cassey receives funding from the Australian Research Council and previously the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.Īdam Toomes receives funding from the Australian Research Council and previously the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.Ĭharlotte Lassaline previously received funding from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.įreyja Watters receives funding from an Adelaide University Postgraduate Research Scholarship. student at the Invasion Science & Wildlife Ecology Group, University of Adelaide Head, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Adelaide
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