Reuters 17 Sep 09;
BEIJING, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW-www.ifaw.org) announced today that Alibaba (www.taobo.com.cn), the world's largest business-to-business and outsource portal site for traders worldwide, has agreed to ban all online trade in elephant ivory, sea turtle, and shark fin.
In addition, Alibaba has strengthened its internal control of wildlife products traded to accord to international and national regulations.
Alibaba's announcement comes nearly a year after eBay, working with IFAW, agreed to ban the sale of all ivory products.
The milestone decision was made following a year long collaboration between IFAW and Alibaba's partner site, Taobao.com to raise awareness about the unsustainable and cruel trade of wildlife on the Internet. IFAW encourages netizens to report online wildlife crime activities and helps portal sites filter out advertisements of wildlife products. To date, 333 wildlife product advertisements and 5 traders registered from Cameron, USA, and Canada have been removed from the Alibaba site.
Grace Gabriel, IFAW's Asia Regional Director said, "From eBay to Taobao to Alibaba, a growing number of internet sites are taking responsibilities to protect the world's precious wildlife from the threat of trade. It is a very encouraging trend."
About the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) As one of the world's leading animal welfare organization, IFAW has representation in 16 countries and carries out its animal welfare work in more than 40. IFAW works from its global headquarters in the United States and focuses its campaigns on improving the welfare of wild and domestic animals by reducing the commercial exploitation of animals, protecting wildlife habitats, and assisting animals in distress. IFAW works both on the ground and in the halls of government to safeguard wild and domestic animals and seeks to
motivate the public to prevent cruelty to animals and to promote animal welfare and conservation policies that advance the well-being of both animals and people. For more information on IFAW, visit www.ifaw.org
SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare
