Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V. Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS)

Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e. V.
Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS)

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Online taxidermy trade

Prepared hawk on eBay
Prepared hawk on eBay

The trade with stuffed birds mainly affects large species or particularly colourful types like eagles, owls, herons or bee-eaters. The rarer the species, the higher the price on the black market. 

CABS conducts regular missions and research, which leads to the discovery of trophies of protected species among hunters and taxidermists. In Malta and Italy alone, advertisements and information gathered by CABS and our partner associations have led to the confiscation of several thousand stuffed birds. In Germany, biologists are commissioned by CABS to examine relevant online sales platforms on which illegal trophies are repeatedly offered for sale or auctioned. eBay and eBay-Kleinanzeigen have proved to be particularly problematic, where we have repeatedly discovered illegal offers in recent years and reported them to the responsible authorities. As a result, hundreds of bird products have been confiscated from various sellers and their buyers. Although both platforms have now begun to delete suspicious advertisements, numerous products are still being offered and sold there.

In 2006, CABS launched a large-scale campaign against online trading of protected birds on eBay. Since then, the phenomenon has declined significantly, but has by no means been satisfactorily resolved. Unfortunately, our publication on this subject is still up to date today:

Wild birds under the hammer