Images of wild animals, such as a trained predator from the Indian film 'Coolie,' create the impression that closeness to a wild creature can be exciting and harmless. However, the reality of this picture differs significantly from the romanticized portrayal.
Online Trade and Law Enforcement Finds
A 2020 study on Facebook pages and groups in Thailand recorded offers to sell 396 raptors and owls between February 2015 and June 2019, among which nine shikras were found. Researchers discovered evidence of wild bird sales, including chicks taken from nests; one juvenile shikra was explicitly advertised as caught in the wild.
The story of falcons demonstrates that the trade has shifted from traditional market cages to formats involving photographs, private messages, and social media listings. At the beginning of this month, a joint operation by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Directorate of Tax Intelligence, supported by the Wildlife Crime Bureau, led to the seizure of 53 protected animals and birds in Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Results of a Major Operation
The seized cargo included 15 slow lorises, two binturongs, 28 star tortoises, six Egyptian vultures, and two shikras. Six people were arrested in connection with an alleged interstate syndicate for illegal wildlife trade. The investigation is ongoing, and this raid represents a significant law enforcement success while simultaneously exposing a conservation crisis often overshadowed by attention to tiger skins, ivory, or rhino horns.
Vulnerability of Exotic Animals
Slow lorises are particularly susceptible to the influence of the visual economy of exotic animal trade. Their large eyes and seemingly gentle movements make them attractive subjects for videos, tourist photos, and online posts. What looks cute on screen may conceal the process of capture, transportation, injuries, and prolonged stress.
Studies on the trade of tourist photographs have documented the impact of bright light and multiple flashes on nocturnal slow lorises, which can disrupt their natural activity cycles and potentially damage their light-sensitive eyes. Analysis of 77 confiscated large slow lorises brought to a rehabilitation center in Indonesia showed that 28.6% died within six months, mainly due to traumatic injuries; all chicks in the group died. Survivors often exhibited external wounds, dental problems, and abnormal behavior. Although the study did not assert that all injuries occurred during capture or transport, it demonstrated the immense cost to the welfare of animals involved in illegal trade.
Binturong Trade in Indonesia
The binturong faces similar pressure. A 2024 study of online trade in Indonesia revealed 594 listings offering 724 live binturongs, with 97.6% of these listings posted on Facebook. Researchers concluded that the exotic animal trade is the primary source of demand in their sample. While the exact origin of most animals could not be determined, the authors suggested that a significant portion was likely illegally sourced from the wild. Confiscation records from 2015 to 2023 include 103 live binturongs. This data is from Indonesia and should not automatically be considered an indicator of trade in India, but it shows how quickly demand for a relatively little-known forest animal can rise once buyers and sellers find each other online.
Myths and Animal Value
Not all traded animals are acquired for one reason. The Indian star tortoise is valued for its characteristic shell pattern and is in high demand in the exotic pet trade. In some markets, demand is amplified by beliefs that turtles bring luck, prosperity, or blessings. These beliefs may seem harmless, but they can turn a wild animal into a possession and stimulate the removal of thousands of individuals from their natural habitat.
Regarding the Egyptian vultures seized during the CBI-DRI operation, a more cautious interpretation is required. The official statement confirms their seizure but does not specify the reason for the trade or the intentions of the alleged buyers. Therefore, it is premature to attribute this specific confiscation to occult practices, medicine, or any other particular purpose. It is only clear that the Egyptian vulture is already endangered and faces several established threats, including poisoning, unsafe veterinary drugs, electrocution, and consumption of contaminated carcasses. Illegal capture or trade adds another danger to a species that already has little room for additional pressure.
Diversity of Wildlife Markets
The main conclusion is that wildlife trade is not a single market, but a collection of intersecting markets driven by needs for pets, status, food, traditional practices, ornamental value, and beliefs in luck or healing. Different species enter the chain for different reasons, but the result is often the same: the animal is removed from the wild and reduced to a commodity.
The Hidden Crisis of Attention
Public attention to wildlife crime naturally focuses on tigers, elephants, and rhinos. Sustained attention to these species has helped strengthen legislation, law enforcement, and public awareness. However, success in conserving flagship species can create a blind spot, giving the impression that the overall fight against wildlife trade has been won, while birds, reptiles, primates, and small predators continue to move through less visible networks.
The Lok Sabha report, published in August 2025, listed 820 cases of wildlife crime registered with the Wildlife Crime Bureau in 2020, followed by 632 in 2021, 546 in 2022, 349 in 2023, and 354 in 2024. These cases were registered and reported by state and central law enforcement agencies. They are not estimates of the total number of wildlife crimes. Thus, these figures require caution. An overall decline may indicate increased deterrence, changes in law enforcement priorities, or variations in reporting. It may also reflect the growing complexity of detecting transactions that have moved online. A slight increase from 349 cases in 2023 to 354 in 2024 means the series is not a continuous annual decline. A detected case indicates that law enforcement has found something; the falling number of detected cases itself does not mean that the trade is shrinking.
Market and Smartphone
Modern wildlife trade does not require the darknet. Ordinary social media platforms are quite sufficient. A photograph can serve as a shop window, and the price is discussed via private message. Buyers and sellers may never meet until the animal is delivered or handed over to an intermediary. Studies on online trade of raptors and binturongs show how public or semi-private social media groups can connect sellers with a large customer base while making monitoring difficult.
However, the smartphone has not replaced the traditional wildlife market. These two systems can coexist. Multiple law enforcement operations at the Kabutar market in Delhi, near Jama Masjid, illustrate the resilience of physical trade. Wildlife SOS reported that 1741 birds, including about 500 chicks, were seized during an operation in 2022. In July 2024, the Delhi Forest Department seized about 1000 birds following a complaint by PETA India. Another approximately 150 parrots and pigeons were seized in another operation in December.
This data does not prove that every trader in the market is involved in illegal activities. However, it shows that protected local birds have repeatedly been present in an established commercial space. An IndiaSpend investigation into bird markets in Delhi, Patna, and Lucknow also reported the sale of protected species, poor keeping conditions, and widespread non-compliance with registration requirements. Such findings should be attributed to the specific investigation, not used to condemn every pet owner or seller in these cities.
Importance of Attention to Small Species
Raids are important because they save individual animals, disrupt supply chains, and affect traders. But repeated seizures from the same markets demonstrate the limits of law enforcement, which eliminates supply but does not reduce demand. Protecting biodiversity will require closer monitoring of online platforms, better coordination between forest departments, police, customs, and courier networks, as well as consistent action against the illegal sale of protected species. Social media companies must also become more effective in identifying and removing posts about the sale of wild animals, instead of relying heavily on external researchers and activists for flagging them.
Public behavior is equally important. A person posing with a nocturnal primate might only see an unusual festive photo. A buyer taking home a tortoise might think that one small purchase won't harm the species. A person sharing a video of an exotic pet might not know if the animal was legally bred or taken from the wild. However, demand is shaped by individual actions. Every impulse purchase, paid-for photo, and viral post can add value to the next animal awaiting capture. The story of South Asia's conservation cannot end with a tiger, elephant, or rhino. Its future also depends on the shikra in a cage, the loris under the camera flash, the tortoise hidden in a bag, and the binturong advertised on a phone screen. These are the creatures that rarely make the front pages, but they are what the wildlife trade relies on, hoping no one notices.
