He illegal wildlife trade Much has changed in recent years. First there were street vendors who operated out in the open before their activities were prosecuted. Later they continued to work on the streets, but much more secretly. then came Internet and they didn’t have to flaunt themselves so much, although physical sellers still exist in some countries. And now the time of the Dark Web has come. Unfortunately, open selling on the Internet is not as prosecuted as it should be. However, many sellers, as well as their buyers, prefer to remain in the background. All this was recently studied by a group of scientists from University of Adelaide (Australia), whose results can be read in a study in People and Nature.
Its purpose was to test which species are the most commercialized and for what purpose. So they discovered something amazing. And the fact is that although wild animals are usually considered to be sold only as pets, in this case they were sold for other dark purposes, such as receiving drugs.
In fact, if you take plants and fungi into account, you can see that 70% of the species sold on the dark web were sold as drugs. Some with purported medicinal purposes and others only for recreational use. Moreover, although it may seem strange, the latter also includes some wild animals.
What is Darknet?
Before talking about illegal sales of the Dark Web, it does not hurt to remember what exactly it is.
roughDark Web is a section of the Internet that not connected to search enginesto the regulars. In addition, to access it, you need to install special software or go through authorization.
All this makes it much more difficult to discover what is being done in it, so perfect hiding place for the illegal sale of all types of products. As well as plants, mushrooms and wild animals.
Plants, mushrooms and wild animals are sold as drugs
These scientists analyzed 2 million ads exhibited on the darknet during 5 years. Their goal was to see the extent to which wild plants, fungi and animals are traded. But, first of all, for what purpose it was done.
They found 153 species are sold in 3332 advertisements.of which 90% They were aimed at commercializing substances such as recreational drugs. This also applied to 70% types. Most of them were mushrooms and plants. For example, some of the mushrooms that appeared in the ads were magic truffles (tampan psilocybe) And magic mushrooms (psilocybe cubensis). both contain psilocybin, a psychedelic drug highly regarded in entertainment venues. As for plants, they dominated darknet advertising. Some examples of those sold as drugs are: Formosan Koa (embarrassed acacia), He peyote (Lophophora Williamsia) And halipong (Diplotheris cabrerana). They all also contain psychedelic substances which make them very valuable as drugs.
But, although it may seem strange, there are also animals that are sold as drugs. An example is Sonoran desert toad (incilius alvarius). It is known for secreting psychoactive substances, which is why its users lick it to take advantage of its effects as a drug.
Other uses
Not all species found on the dark web are sold as drugs. There were also medicinal plants such as passion flower (Passiflora incarnate) or verbatim (Verbascum tapsus). The first is known for its calming effect, and the second for expectorant. In addition, some wild animals such as raccoon (procyon lotor) are sold for their skins. And others like african gray parrot (parrot eritacus), He hyacinth macaw (Anodorchinkh hyacinthus) And goliath beetle (goliath goliatus) as pets.
Great environmental danger
The wildlife trade is dangerous for two reasons. On the one hand, since this may mean extinction of some species. In fact, the authors of this study also searched the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List for traded species. It establishes the level of risk in which various species of animals, plants and fungi are found. Luckily, most of those sold on the dark web are risk-free. But there are those who are in danger. In particular, 9 species are endangered, and one is already extinct. The latter is western black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis longipes). It was declared extinct in 2011 precisely because of illegal hunting. However, their horns continue to circulate on the black market.
But that doesn’t mean that all wild animals on the dark web are sold dead or cut up. Some of them are alive, and this makes him even more cruel.
Also, this brings us to the second reason why this is all so dangerous. Live species may be released into the environment and become invasive species. In other words, they could compete with native species for the resources available to them for their survival. pushing them out and pushing them to extinction.
Beyond the dark web
Worst of all, none of this is new or exclusive to the Dark Web. There are many cases of wildlife being captured at airports, either as drugs or for their supposed medicinal purposes, or for any of the aforementioned uses. For example, in 2019, at the Toronto airport, a man was detained for carrying in a suitcase 4788 live leeches. These animals are approaching extinction due to their alleged medicinal properties, which is why it is necessary to tighten measures against those who take them out of their habitats. But this does not only apply to wild animals. Plants and mushrooms should also remain in their places. Illegal sales are a scourge with a domino effect that can affect many species. It may not be the hardest thing to do on the dark web, but it also needs to be controlled.
Source: Hiper Textual
