"One in five butterfly species sold online across borders" on eBay
Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2023 1:06 pm
My news feed gave this headline:
Endangered butterflies are being sold for high prices on eBay: More than 50,000 dead butterflies were traded on eBay in a one-year period, including endangered species protected by international treaties on wildlife trade (https://www.newscientist.com/article/23 ... s-on-ebay/).
Like most headlines - this one cherry picked the results to create "click bait. I tracked down the actual paper they sourced the story from (https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ss_borders) and it is actually pretty interesting. A factual account of a year's worth of eBay sales across the globe which details what gets sold (almost everything!), what drives high prices (prettiness and rarity), and how those prices relate to the likely source countries relative to average income (likely low, given that middlemen post the actual sales).
Before you get your panties in a bunch - it's an interesting read that concludes with:
Unlike their 19th century counterparts, modern collectors for the butterfly trade are stakeholders who depend on pristine habitats for their livelihood, and therefore have a vested interest in habitat conservation. We suggest that the scale and extent of global butterfly trade is best seen as a practice of sustainable, targeted resource extraction that has considerable potential in promoting the conservation of insect habitats.
John
Endangered butterflies are being sold for high prices on eBay: More than 50,000 dead butterflies were traded on eBay in a one-year period, including endangered species protected by international treaties on wildlife trade (https://www.newscientist.com/article/23 ... s-on-ebay/).
Like most headlines - this one cherry picked the results to create "click bait. I tracked down the actual paper they sourced the story from (https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ss_borders) and it is actually pretty interesting. A factual account of a year's worth of eBay sales across the globe which details what gets sold (almost everything!), what drives high prices (prettiness and rarity), and how those prices relate to the likely source countries relative to average income (likely low, given that middlemen post the actual sales).
Before you get your panties in a bunch - it's an interesting read that concludes with:
Unlike their 19th century counterparts, modern collectors for the butterfly trade are stakeholders who depend on pristine habitats for their livelihood, and therefore have a vested interest in habitat conservation. We suggest that the scale and extent of global butterfly trade is best seen as a practice of sustainable, targeted resource extraction that has considerable potential in promoting the conservation of insect habitats.
John