The rise of the internet has seen an incline in wildlife trade. However, the dark web has since opened doors on another layer of exchange with majority of wildlife, plants and fungi sold mostly for recreational drugs, according to Australian researchers.

A new study published in the British Ecological Society journal highlights 153 species traded on the dark web. Experts are now calling for greater regulation of internet-facilitated wildlife trade as rates continue to climb.

We spoke with Dr Phill Cassey  from the University of Adelaide to find out how wildlife trade on more open forums of the internet compares with wild life trade on the dark web.

Image: Image courtesy of Pierre-Bamin: Unsplash

Produced By: Emma Wotzke

Featured In Story: Associate Professor – Phill Cassey – Head of the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department, Adelaide University , and

First aired on The Wire, Thursday, 8 June 2023