By Loretta Shepherd | Communications Coordinator
Dear Otter-friends,
During our investigator’s systematic surveys of online platforms in Vietnam conducted over a 3-month period, we found an alarming total of 3315 otters and otter products advertised for sale. Of this number, 72 were live otters and 3243 were otter fur products such as coats, scarves and gloves.
Among the three online platforms found selling otter products, Facebook accounted for the highest number of recorded ads: 116 of out the 130 ads found. The other two, Shopee and Lazada, had only a very small number of ads in comparison, with only 13 and 1 respectively.
Of the live otters found advertised for sale, we were able to identify 36 to species-level, all of which are Small-Clawed Otter Aonyx cinerea, the species that is most targeted by exotic pet collectors because of their small-size and playful nature.
Another interesting observation we made was that of the 3243 otter fur products, 1095 products included information stating where the product came from. Most of these claims indicated that they came from Japan – once again alluding to the international nature of otter trafficking.
Next steps for this project include providing actionable information to enforcement authorities to enable targeted investigation and law enforcement towards ending the poaching and trafficking of otters.
Thank you for joining us in the effort to end otter trafficking in Vietnam.
By Loretta Shepherd | Communications Coordinator
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