Wildlife trafficking on the internet: a virtual market similar to drug trafficking?

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the rapid growth of the Internet has led to important changes in criminal activities, offering such as illegal trafficking. Wildlife trafficking, specifically, is constantly increasing worldwide and constitutes a threat not only to many species’ survival but also to national and international security. The illegal trade of wildlife has been examined by researchers through many theoretical frameworks; however, the ways it has been affected by the Internet has not received a lot of attention. More so, whilst some researches suggest that the physical markets of wildlife and drug share similarities, their respective virtual markets have not been compared yet. Thus, this article builds on an in-depth review of the current literature to not only look into these gaps but also to make recommendations for future empirical researches on the issue of animal trafficking. This article highlights the need for more empirical research on the matter of online wildlife trafficking and, falling into the green criminological perspective, argue for all the wild species to be given equal rights regardless of the threat they may face.