Hyderabad: Aside from live animals being sold under decoy names in OLX, EBay and Locanto, emerging as the single largest website for sale of animals, there are WhatsApp groups where traders from different states ‘assemble’ for discussion and strike deals.
Sale of wildlife, especially birds and small mammals, used to be largely by word of mouth. Of late, apps such as WhatsApp, Wechat etc have become tools of the trade. Through these, it is easy to exchange information. It costs participants little, and go-es completely unchecked.
There are several groups on WhatsApp, that comprise primarily of breeders — who breed and sell exotic birds and animals. In these groups, endemic species of wildlife often pop up for sale. Though not necessarily more expensive than the exotic species, it gives some folks cheap thrills of owning Indian wildlife, even if this is against law.
On most social media platforms, only ‘recognised’ members can see information posted by a dealer. Dealers also check their followers regularly and may block those who never buy products or who do not post updates, or who regularly ask questions.
A wildlife activist said, “The way they operate is, they send pictures of birds or animals, citing the day’s newspaper, with the date clearly shown, to prove that the seller has that stock on that day. They negotiate a price and do the trading. If it’s trade between cities, birds are packed in boxes and transported via private buses or railways. Both have little security checks.’’
He adds, “Of all these birds transported, a few may not be alive the next day. Traders often travel with the animals or just book them by a courier in a bus, and tip the driver. The recipient will come and pick them up at the destination.” “There are 6-7 whatsapp groups I know of, and there will be many more. It is quite hard to get these folks to trust us and get added to it. Each of these groups has between 30-60 members mainly from Tamil Nadu, Telangana (Hyderabad), Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra,” he added.
Mainly birds and small mammals are sold as pets. Some birds have stories associated with them. Many believe that since owl is the vehicle of Goddess Lakshmi, keeping it at home brings money. Most of these birds remain as pets in cages.
