EXOTIC and endangered animals such as cheetahs, tigers, blank panthers and cobras are being sold to UK punters on secretive Facebook groups.
A Sun Online investigation found people offering rare and dangerous animals for sale on the social networks - seemingly without any proper checks.
The shocking news was revealed with a search on the online giant, that brought up dozens of groups.
We joined a number of the groups and within hours of being a member we had been offered cheetah, tiger, lion and leopard cubs.
One seller, based in Turkey, advertised tiger cubs for £2,300 each, lion cubs for £2,000 each and leopard cubs for £1,260 each.
They claimed they could ship to the UK and they would arrive in "two days max".
He said: "They are well trained and well tamed too. They can stay indoors."
The seller added: "I will need a day to get them ready and then documents will be supplied...after that I will carry them to American Airlines and register them for a flight.
"When they arrive in the UK, you will be notified and after that they will be delivered to your address.
"You only need to make an advance payment for the process and once you receive the cubs and confirm they are in good health, you pay our balance.
"They come with registration papers and a DVD...you can learn more from the disc. When they get bigger they will be perfect and you will enjoy them more."
In a breach of Facebook guidelines, one trader advertised tiger cubs for £2,800, Transvaal lion cubs for £1,800, African lion cubs for £1,400 and cheetah cubs for £1,100.
Another seller claimed he could deliver a leopard cub from Germany to the buyer’s home address in Britain for £1,300 plus an extra £160 for shipping costs.
He said: “Leopard cubs are fast selling pets and loved by many people around the world.”
Under UK law people who keep animals that are "wild, dangerous or exotic" must apply to their local council for a licence.
They are granted only if they can provide necessary safety measures at their home and after a fee is paid.
None of those selling exotic animals on Facebook mentioned the need to obtain a licence from the local authority.
Animal welfare officials have called on social media companies to do more to crack down on the trade.
Lis Key, of International Animal Rescue, told the Sun Online: “The internet does make it easier for the traders to hide – and easier for them to reach a vast market.
"Traders are increasingly turning to social media sites like Facebook to sell exotic animals.
"In terms of what the dangers are of selling exotic animals on the internet: clearly neither the buyers or sellers can have the animals’ best interests at heart. The former are seeking trophies, the latter are out to make money.
“The animals are often kept hidden away in cramped conditions and go without food or water for long periods of time. Inevitably, many die before they are even sold. Perhaps they are the lucky ones.”
Richard Thomas, from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring group, told the Sun Online: “It’s so difficult to police because most of the Facebook groups are private/closed.
“It’s a new avenue which the criminal underworld will try to exploit."
Martin Simms, Director of Investigations at the League Against Cruel Sports, has dealt with cases including the attempted sale of dead bats online and the suspected sale of sperm whale teeth hacked from the mouth of a dead whale washed up on a British beach.
He believes Facebook has a duty to halt any illegal wildlife activity.
There have also been cases where wild British hedgehogs have been passed off as exotic African Pygmy Hedgehogs by rustlers trying to sell them as pets on Facebook, as well as sites such as Gumtree.
In a separate case, in April last year champion cage fighter Steve Dossett sparked outrage when he posted pictures of orphaned fox cubs on his social media page and asked for £120 per animal.
He posted photos of them in a box in his home and wrote “fox cubs for sale, 120 pounds lovely pets”.
In another post under another photograph, he wrote "foxes drinking milk out of a bowl, who wants one?"
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Horrified animal lovers saw the ad and begged him to take the animals to a shelter instead.
Eventually, a member of Dossett’s family called Surrey-based Wildlife Aid Foundation and volunteers from the charity went to his flat and took seven cubs away.
A spokesman for Facebook said: "We have now removed all of the groups raised to us by Sun Online.
"We do not allow the sale of live animals between private individuals, and we will remove any content that violates our policies.”
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