Internet threat to rare species

THE internet has emerged as one of the greatest threats to rare species, fuelling the illegal wildlife trade and making it easier to buy everything from live baby lions to wine made from tiger bones, conservationists said yesterday.

The web’s impact was made clear at the meeting of the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. Delegates voted overwhelmingly yesterday to ban the trade of the Kaiser’s spotted newt which the World Wildlife Fund says has been devastated by the internet trade.

The United States and Sweden, meanwhile, are proposing to regulate the trade in red and pink coral which is crafted into expensive jewellery and sold extensively on the web.