Concerns are growing over the use of social media platform TikTok as a marketplace for the sale of endangered Jamaican species, with conservation biologist Damion Whyte urging the authorities to make every effort to find and prosecute individuals who engage in the practice.

He warns that the trend could further threaten already vulnerable populations.

“An example needs to be set by the authorities that they mean business, and if you [get] caught doing stuff like this, you need to face the consequences. There needs to be education, but there also needs to be enforcement,” he said.