韩国主流二手交易平台上出现大量以「真品」为卖点的大型猫科动物制品挂售信息。韩国环境部早在2016年就承认「网络及私人交易呈上升趋势」,此后虽投入4400万韩元建立专责线上监测单元,但「真虎标本」「真豹皮」等违规商品至今仍可轻易检索到。专家呼吁政府主动排查线上页面与帖子,并与平台合作下架非法商品。

要点

  • 在韩国国内二手平台上检索到50余条相关帖子,涉及虎皮、豹皮、玳瑁与绿海龟标本、天然象牙、加工珊瑚制品及尖吻鲭鲨标本等
  • 虎、豹、玳瑁与绿海龟均被列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》(CITES)附录一,韩国自1994年起禁止大型附录一猫科动物的商业贸易
  • 韩国环境部2016年数据显示,此前3年查获的83起CITES违规案中,41起涉及网络销售;去年成立的线上监测项目耗资4400万韩元

A used-car-sized price tag. That is the first thing that catches the eye. On a South Korean secondhand marketplace, a taxidermied tiger is listed at 7 million won, roughly $5,210, described by the seller as a “truly rare, genuine tiger.” The product photos show an animal preserved head to tail, and the listing makes a point of stressing its authenticity — a marketing angle that reads as confidence rather than deception.

That post is not an outlier. A scan of major domestic resale platforms turned up dozens of similar listings offering processed goods derived from rare animals — tiger and leopard pelts, taxidermied sea turtles, natural ivory and more. The items are not sold in any dedicated or quarantined section; they sit alongside ordinary secondhand goods, indistinguishable in presentation from used furniture or electronics.

The legal backdrop is unambiguous. Tigers and leopards are listed under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as CITES, the treaty's highest protective tier. Appendix I covers species threatened with extinction that are or may be affected by international trade, and commercial international trade in them is prohibited in principle. Within South Korea, commercial trade in large Appendix I felids has been banned since 1994.

Sea turtles found on the same platforms fall under the same regime. Some sellers went as far as naming the species — hawksbill sea turtle or green sea turtle — both CITES Appendix I. Other items identified in the listings included natural ivory, processed coral goods and a taxidermied shortfin mako shark.

Not every such transaction is automatically illegal. Exceptions exist for goods lawfully imported decades ago, or acquired before CITES rules took effect — but the seller must be able to produce documentation proving the item's legal origin. Even then, ownership does not equal freedom to sell.

South Korea's Act on Protection and Management of Wildlife requires anyone who purchases, transfers, receives, owns, possesses or displays an internationally endangered species — or processed goods derived from one — to retain documents proving how the item was lawfully obtained. Transferring a CITES-listed species legally imported into the country requires separate notification to authorities before the transaction, plus supporting documents such as an import permit. A tiger mounted on a wall, in other words, cannot be handed over like an ordinary antique. Paperwork is required.

None of it was visible. Among the more than 50 relevant posts examined, not a single listing mentioned CITES permits, the required notifications or any documentation of a lawful acquisition chain.

The phenomenon itself is not new. In May 2024, researchers from the Zoological Society of London's Institute of Zoology, University College London, the Korea Tiger Conservation Fund and Seoul National University published a study in the international journal PLOS ONE documenting the trade in large felid products in South Korea. By following up on cases flagged by experts, the researchers directly confirmed that products advertised as derived from large felids were openly sold across multiple domestic online marketplaces. Tiger and leopard pelts were repeatedly cited by experts as examples of domestic trade occurring after 1994.

One expert presented a case in which a seller attempted to list a leopard pelt on a well-known secondhand marketplace, claiming to have acquired it while working in West Africa. In all instances where a product's origin was indicated, it traced back to a foreign country — China, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, Nepal, Kenya or Gabon.

Authorities were not in the dark. The Ministry of Environment — now the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy — acknowledged officially as far back as 2016 that “internet and private transactions are on the rise.” At that time, 41 of 83 CITES-related violations detected over the preceding three years involved online sales. Since then it has unified its reporting system, promoted permit and notification procedures, and last year established a dedicated online monitoring unit for illegally distributed processed goods derived from internationally endangered species. The project cost 44 million won, and the National Institute of Ecology hired dedicated staff from September last year through February this year to run the unit and compile its findings.

And yet. Listings advertising “genuine taxidermied tigers” and “real leopard pelts” remain easy to find on domestic secondhand sites.

Experts point to active monitoring of online pages and posts, coupled with cooperation from secondhand platforms to remove illegal listings. The researchers recommended that the government “investigate online pages and posts selling products derived from tigers and other Asian large felids, and cooperate with relevant platforms to have them taken down.” They added that regular monitoring should extend beyond publicly visible transactions to cover covert trade as well.

For anyone who suspects trafficking of wildlife products, reporting channels include the Environmental Sinmungo hotline, the People's Sinmungo portal, regional environmental authorities or law enforcement.

For the resale sector, the case carries a familiar lesson: platforms that blur the line between ordinary goods and regulated ones create a compliance vacuum that organized trafficking can occupy. The secondhand industry's own credibility is part of what is at stake.

来源: Tigers, leopards and sea turtles for sale: How South Korea's secondhand apps became a wildlife trafficking hub · 原文发布于 2026-10-07