(Yicai Global) Sept.7 -- Endangered or exotic animals such as falcons, owls, and eagles have been offered for sale on Alibaba Group Holding's second-hand goods website Xianyu.

State-owned Xinhua News Agency found many cases of trafficking protected animals during its own investigation. An individual in the southeastern city of Shenzhen was posting photos of parts of a dead white-tailed eagle to sell them, which is illegal. The Bureau of Forestry Public Security in Shenzhen has started an investigation on the case.

China has banned sales of nearly extinct animals or fossils of them and related searches on e-commerce websites are blocked. However, sneaky smugglers have found ways to overcome these restrictions. A seller from southern China's city of Guangzhou was offering the Mansfield's tree-tailed swallowtail butterfly on Xianyu while writing the Chinese name in pinyin letters and encouraging potential buyers to SMS for photos so as to avoid a notice from the website's security system.

The platform should upgrade its supervision procedures, said Qiu Baochang, president of the E-Commerce Law Research Association of the Beijing Law Society. If it does not block these illegal actions, it should also take up corresponding responsibilities, he added.

Editor: Emmi Laine