Texas puts the halt on illegal internet trades of wildlife!

In a world where anything can be bought or sold with the click of a button, Texas is working to halt the illegal trade of wildlife online.  People will try to sell anything including protected species, invasive species and even endangered species.  For every person trying to sell on the world wide web, there is someone trying to buy these species.  Illegal trades are dangerous to animals and can cause many problems for a particular species.  Often times, someone busy an animal online and once it grows to big or acts too “wild” they decide to part with it.  Unfortunately, when it comes to parting, the animal usually is released into the wild.  This is especially dangerous when the species is invasive.  Texas is taking a proactive stance on these illegal actions.  Keep reading for more on this story!

“Trading on the internet can be a wild experience with deals on practically anything and everything one can imagine just a click away. Some online sellers in the Houston area learned this week that illegal sales of wildlife products can become high ticket items.”

“Texas game wardens made multiple criminal cases this week against individuals attempting to sell online various threatened and protected wildlife species, as well as state and federally regulated natural resources. Navigating through internet forums and online marketplaces where trade in both live wildlife and wildlife parts are known to occur, wardens were able to negotiate undercover transactions with willing sellers to purchase things like a 100-pound alligator snapping turtle and a timber rattlesnake, both threatened species in Texas, as well as live alligators, illegal Gulf shrimp and raptor parts.”

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