Animals, plants, fungi, and their parts are being routinely traded on the dark web, mostly for use as drugs or medicine, with e-commerce marketplaces, private forums, and messaging apps making the process easier, according to new university research.
Australia has nearly 900 native reptile species, of which over 90 percent cannot be found anywhere else.
Each year, hundreds of native reptiles–including blue-tongue lizards and
water dragons–are smuggled by mail to overseas markets, according to a 2021 investigative story by Australian Geographic.
“According to data from the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE), almost 90 percent of all animals seized by authorities between 2018 and 2019 were reptiles,” the article read….
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