A sample of the illegal wildlife products seized by the US Fish & Wildlife Service
Yesterday eBay participated in the Uniting Against Wildlife Crime event hosted by the US Wildlife Trafficking Alliance. This event, which took place at National Geographic in Washington, DC, offered a stage for members of the Alliance to share the progress they’ve made to combat illegal wildlife trafficking.
eBay’s Senior Manager for Regulatory Policy, Mike Carson, participated in a panel discussion highlighting eBay’s efforts to prohibit the sale of illegal wildlife products, as well as raise consumer awareness around this issue. eBay has demonstrated a long standing commitment to prohibiting the sale of illegal wildlife products on our site, including a global ban on ivory sales since 2008. Through our partnership with the Alliance, we have taken additional steps this year to communicate with the eBay community about this issue. Some of those efforts include featuring the Alliance’s #BuyInformed campaign on our policy page, linking to a standardized wildlife policy framework in seller messaging, and publishing blog posts tied to significant events, like this one on World Elephant Day.
Finally, eBay is hosting a charity auction until December 9th, with proceeds going to support the Alliance. The auction features nine unique items, ranging from a Carnival Cruise to an original painting by Shanti the Elephant from the Houston Zoo.
We look forward to continuing to work with the Alliance in 2017 to address this important issue.