Beicology: Environmentalist Enraged After Seeing Endangered Bird for Sale on Taobao

What's your typical Taobao browse like? A billion tabs and far too many items in your basket? British birdwatcher Terry Townshend had a far less than normal Taobao experience this past week when he came across a listing for a critically endangered yellow-breasted bunting.

Upon seeing such a brazen violation of animal rights on the e-commerce platform Townshend – founder of the birdwatching NGO and website Birding Beijing – took to social media, detailing his outrage in a Facebook post:

"I was shocked and appalled that it was possible to buy birds online that are just one step away from extinction," Townshend went on to tell the Beijinger during a recent interview. Townshend went on to explain why Taobao sellers would put the already deeply at risk yellow-breasted bunting one precarious step closer to extinction, saying: "I think it’s purely about making money by satisfying demand. Some people, particularly in southern China, like to eat this bird or keep it as a pet in a cage. These people will pay good money, hundreds or even thousands of yuan to buy them. The rarer it is, the more expensive it becomes on the black market. Taobao offers a platform for the poachers to be able to connect with potential buyers in different parts of China."

In a Birding Beijing blog post detailing poachers' activities on Taobao, Townshend details that the yellow-breasted bunting was once prolific throughout Northern Europe, Japan, and China, but has since been classified as “Critically Endangered” on the 2017 International Union for Conservation (IUCN) Red List. "This is the most endangered category and means that Yellow-breasted Bunting is just one step away from extinction," Townshend explains.

Townshend went on to tell TBJ that the poachers and buyers aren't the only ones at fault. "It is illegal to take any bird from the wild in China without a license, only granted for scientific purposes. So Taobao is facilitating illegal activity by allowing sellers to offer wild birds."

Thankfully, Townshend successfully kicked up enough of a fuss in the activist community, on social media, and in the press to warrant a call from an official at Taobao about the yellow-breasted Bunting's sale. In a follow-up blog post titled "Alibaba Takes Action To Stop The Sale Of Wild Birds On Taobao" Townshend describes how the "the official was ‘horrified’ to see the social media posts" and "confirmed the link had already been taken down and that a review of procedures was underway."

Townshend and the official went on to discuss the illegal sale of wild birds and poaching equipment on the site, and the Taobao employee invited the Birding Beijing founder to send links to any items that were in violation. Townshend then sent more than 100 such URLs that he and his team had compiled. He concluded his blog post with a pledge: "Alibaba now has a chance to show that they genuinely care about stopping the illegal wildlife trade ... Rest assured Beijing birders will be checking regularly to see whether the links provided to Alibaba have been removed and we’ll report on progress – good or bad – via this website."

For any TBJ readers equally appalled by this news and wondering how they might help, Townshend asks that if you happen upon the selling of birds or poaching equipment while browsing the site that you "please complain to Alibaba directly or send the links to me and I will pass on to the company." You can also report illegal activity to organizations such as BirdLife International who work with partners around the world and have a specific campaign to protect the yellow-breasted bunting. On the domestic front, Townshend says organizations such as Spoon-billed Sandpiper In China (SBS In China, who you can contact at  info@sbsinchina.com) are "dedicated to saving another endangered species and the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society has an ongoing project to try to save yellow-breasted bunting."

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
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Photos: Taobao, Birding Beijing, courtesy of Terry Townshend