Photo/Illutration This Japanese newt, seen here at World Freshwater Aquarium Aquatotto Gifu in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, belongs to an endangered local group called the Atsumi Race. (The Asahi Shimbun)

Amphibian species under threat feature in as many as 70 percent of entries on Japanese online marketplaces offering animals and pets for sale, according to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Japan.

The Japanese arm of the global conservation group said in a report Dec. 5 that many of the amphibian species on sale are officially designated as endangered.

WWF Japan officials warned that online transactions could have a major impact on species and even entire ecosystems.

The officials studied Japanese online marketplaces “Rakuten Ichiba” and “Yahoo! Shopping” in August to assess the scope of the problem.

They scrutinized the names of various species, the number on sale and where they were caught.

There were a total of 595 entries on both platforms. More than 1,000 amphibians were found to have been sold on each platform, with tadpoles included in the counts.

The entries represented a total of 78 species.

Of that number, 67 species are native to countries outside Japan, whereas the 11 others are native to Japan.

Fifteen of the species on sale, both of domestic and non-Japanese origin, are listed as endangered or otherwise threatened on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

The count rises to 19 when near-threatened species are included.

Species designated in the IUCN Red List as under threat from hunting and trapping featured in 411 of the entries, which accounted for about 70 percent of the total.

The study showed that online trading could pose a threat to species native to Japan.

Four of Japan’s native species that were on sale are listed as near-threatened in the Environment Ministry’s Red List. By number of entries, those four accounted for 64 percent of all transactions of amphibian species native to Japan.

In particular, Japanese newts accounted for half of all entries on Japan’s native species.

Rare species are listed as captured in their natural environment or bred in captivity.

Demand for exotic species could lead to an increase in hunting.

The WWF Japan report called on online trading platforms to single out transactions in wildlife creatures that could impact species and ecosystems, identify problems and come up with self-imposed transaction rules.

Yuri Shibata, a program officer with WWF Japan’s Wildlife Group, said she hopes consumers will “think about what impact their purchases will have and decide to buy creatures only after finding out, for example, if they belong to endangered species and where they were caught.”

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