"Currently, wildlife poachers are using online social media, and the intensity has also increased substantially," a ProFauna Indonesia spokesperson Swasti Prawidya Mukti said in Malang, East Java, on Thursday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Wildlife poaching poses a serious threat to wildlife conservation as most of the animals are caught in their natural habitat, such as the Javan hawk-eagle, king cockatoo, red parrot, gibbon, Javan langur, lemur and eclectus parrot.

According to Swasti, 3,640 advertisements appeared on social media in 2014, which offered various wildlife species, both for domestic and international markets.

China, Kuwait, Taiwan and France are some of the destinations for smuggled animals from Indonesia.

"Wildlife poaching has spread across the country. The government must seriously handle this problem," Swasti said, adding that at least 78 cases of wildlife poaching were reported in 2014.

The cases involved a Sumatran tiger's head and skin, 28 beaks of hornbill ivory along with six yellow-crested cockatoos, three cassowaries and 53 Lorius lorry from Papua Island. (hhr)(++++)

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