Disentangling the role of social media in the online parrots trade in Algeria

Abstract

Abstract The increased use of social media and classified advertisement websites has made wildlife trade more accessible, and the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown may have exacerbated this trend. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of wildlife trade in a data-deficient region, where social media platforms are popular ways of exchanging different goods and products. Focussing on Algeria, for one year (January to December 2020), we tracked the pet parrot trade in 12 Facebook groups specialising in the pet bird trade. There were 1143 advertisements for 29 parrot species in total. Six of the identified species were listed on CITES Appendix I and 19 on CITES Appendix II. Our findings indicate that 1460 specimens of the African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus and P. timneh) have been traded during this period. According to average prices calculated when possible, this trade generates at least USD 318163 annually.