Global trends and impacts of the online illegal wildlife trade
Enrico Di Minin · Neil D’Cruze · Angie Elwin · Annette Hübschle · Riley Kemp · Ritwik Kulkarni · Haozhong Si · Andrea Soriano-Redondo · Miquel Torrents-Ticó
期刊Nature Reviews Biodiversity / Nat. Rev. Biodivers.
类型Article
发表2026-08-24 (online)
收录2026-10-10
被浏览…
关键词illegal wildlife tradebiodiversity lossdigital platformsconsumer demandanonymityplatform governancespecies conservationconservation policycommunity participationanimal welfare
标签—
Online illegal wildlife trade is a growing global threat to biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, public health, community livelihoods and animal welfare. In this Review, we provide a global overview of online illegal wildlife trade to understand its scope, trends and impacts across scales. Thousands of animal, plant and fungal species, including many not yet assessed by conservation authorities, are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation through online illegal wildlife trade. Persistent consumer demand, low perceived risk and anonymity, weak platform governance, and the volatility of online platforms are key drivers sustaining these online markets. The online illegal wildlife trade’s highly diffuse and transnational routes amplify, extend and intertwine with traditional illegal markets. Impacts of online illegal wildlife trade mirror those of traditional markets but are magnified by the speed, scale, dynamism and anonymity of online platforms. Effectively addressing online illegal wildlife trade requires coordinated, multi-level strategies. These strategies should strengthen species protection, enhance regulatory and technological capacity, meaningfully engage local communities and promote whole-of-society approaches in conservation actions. Online illegal wildlife trade threatens species, ecosystems and human well-being. This Review examines the species and products involved, online platforms, drivers, trade routes and impacts of this trade, and how these compare with those of traditional illegal wildlife trade, before outlining mitigation strategies and future priorities for research and action.

@article{minin2026,
author = {Enrico Di Minin and Neil D’Cruze and Angie Elwin and Annette Hübschle and Riley Kemp and Ritwik Kulkarni and Haozhong Si and Andrea Soriano-Redondo and Miquel Torrents-Ticó},
title = {Global trends and impacts of the online illegal wildlife trade},
journal = {Nature Reviews Biodiversity},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1038/s44358-026-00192-8},
publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC},
}· END ·