Asian wildlife traders harness social media: conservationists

KUALA LUMPUR: Social media sites are increasingly being used in Asia as platforms for the illegal trade of threatened species such as orangutan and sun bears, conservation groups said. 

The trend poses a new and worrying threat to wildlife in a tech-savvy region where products derived from a range of species are sought for traditional medicines and exotic animals are prized as pets, said wildlife-trade monitor Traffic and conservation group WWF.