Endangered Albino Macaques Sold Illegally on French Social Media for Thousands

– bySylvanus · 2 min read
Endangered Albino Macaques Sold Illegally on French Social Media for Thousands

Internationally, wildlife trafficking is thriving. In addition to captured wolves and snakes, albino baby Barbary macaques from Morocco are being resold for 2,500 euros in France via social networks.

"Albino baby Barbary macaques, blue eyes, from Morocco, rare species, only one available for the price of 2,500 euros." This is one of the offers proposed by wildlife traffickers on the web, according to TF1. Another proposal: "White tiger available in Mexico, 3,000 euros, but it’s a win-win because I win and you also win because you’re buying a rare white tiger."

"The issue of trafficking is not new, but it’s true that it has been accentuated in recent years by the phenomenon of social networks. There have been many celebrities who have been seen with wild animals," analyzes Christophe Marie, director of national and European affairs at the 30 Million Friends Foundation. "We also know about the Dubai trend and others where we saw celebrities posing with wild animals."

Wildlife trafficking continues to grow. Interpol seized 20,000 live wild animals worldwide at the end of 2024. "Either we’re dealing with opportunistic trafficking, people who are in need or who are already involved in small-scale trafficking and this is just an additional option available to them. Or we’re facing real structures, so criminal groups have become involved in this trafficking. We’ve changed scale, so for species, we’re moving to an industrial mode," emphasizes Fabrice Gayet, French customs agent within the National Coastguard Customs Directorate.

While seizures are multiplying, there is another big equation to solve: saturation of animal shelters. For example, a shelter located near Chartres where there are nearly 600 residents. While some animals have found refuge, others have been abandoned to their sad fate.