According to “Caught in the Web: Wildlife Trade on the Internet,” 9,000 live wild animals, including Amazon parrots, chimpanzees, serval cats, a gorilla and a Siberian tiger, or animal-based products were offered for sale online in a one-week period. Almost 70 percent of the species and products that were offered for sale are protected by international law, according to IFAW.

Because its three-month investigation was limited to five categories of animals, the findings represent only a fraction of the total trade, the organization said.

Many wild animals are targeted by poachers specifically to meet the demands of wealthy consumers in foreign countries or to be sold as pets, said IFAW. The Internet opens new international markets to wildlife traffickers, and the unchecked trade is putting additional pressure on endangered species, it said.

The report calls for greater international cooperation between governments, including sufficient enforcement capacity and greater monitoring of the illegal online trade.

The international trade in endangered species is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. CITES prohibits commercial trade in species listed on Appendix I (those most endangered) and regulates trade in species listed on Appendix II (those potentially at risk from trade). [October 2005 PET AGE]