The extent of the illegal online trade in endangered wildlife has been revealed in a report showing that more than 33,000 animals or their parts were up for sale over just six weeks.

Live cheetahs, baboons, chimpanzees, poison dart frogs and hummingbirds were found on offer to the highest bidder by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Investigators also found the market for animal parts was flourishing, including ivory ornaments, polar bear rugs, rhino horns, tiger claws and snow leopard teeth.

Researchers found 33,006 live wild animals and parts available on 280 sites in 16 different countries over a 42-day period earlier this year.

The most endangered animals, given protection from trade under the Cites international convention, were found in almost 9,500 adverts worth at least $11 million (£7 million).

An advert claiming to offer cheetah cubs for sale in Dubai

On the websites examined in countries including Bahrain, Canada, France, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, more than half of adverts were for live animals.

Ivory, reptiles and birds were the most widely traded items, with ivory featuring in almost one third of all advertisements and reptiles accounting for a quarter.

In the UK alone, 1,087 items were found on sale valued at more than £300,000 in total. More than two-thirds were wildlife parts and products rather than live animals, mostly on eBay.

Ivory poachers are killing elephants faster than they are being born, a new study has discovered. (Getty Images)

The majority of sales were of ivory, including antiques that can be legally sold, but almost 200 turtles and tortoises were also on offer alongside owls, exotic birds, monkeys, lizards and leopard skin clothes and rugs.

The IFAW found some ivory traders attempting to evade law enforcement and bans by sites like eBay by using code words to describe their items.

China had the most adverts for live animals and parts, followed by Germany, France, the UK, Ukraine and Russia.

Critically endangered species Show all 10 1 /10 Critically endangered species Critically endangered species Yangtze Finless Porpoise There are as few as 1,000 of this highly intelligent dolphin from the Chinese river of Yangtze. Wikmedia Critically endangered species Cross River Gorilla There are around 200-300 left in the wild. Wikmedia Critically endangered species The Amur Leopard There are only around 30 left, exclusively in the Russian Far East. Wikmedia Critically endangered species Black Rhino Improving numbers, but with fewer than 5,000 left in central Africa, it is critically endangered. Wikmedia Critically endangered species Hawskbill Sea Turtle Mostly threatened by wildlife trade; their shells highly valued. Wikmedia Critically endangered species Javan Rhino The most threatened rhino species - there are as few as 35 in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia. Wikmedia Critically endangered species Leatherback Turtle Having lost many of its habitable beaches, and impacted by fishing operations, this seaturtle is considered by WWF to be 'critically endangered'. Wikmedia Critically endangered species South China Tiger It is believed to be 'functionally extinct', with none of the species left in the wild. Wikmedia Critically endangered species Sumatran Elephant There are between 2,400 - 2,800 of this elephant native to Borneo and Sumatra. Wikmedia Critically endangered species Sumatran Orangutan There are an est. 7,300 but the gradual deforestation of their Sumatran habitat may threaten further. Wikmedia

Tania McCrea-Steele, the charity’s UK campaigns and enforcement manager, said she was “appalled” at the findings.

“Like it or not, much of the online and offline trade in wildlife and their parts is completely legal, but our investigators had grave concerns that a significant number of ads had been placed by wildlife cybercriminals,” she added.

“The shocking scale of online wildlife trade shows that the internet poses a real threat to wildlife at a time when poaching levels are reaching unprecedented levels.”

IFAW researchers submitted almost 1,200 “suspect” findings from the report, which made up 13 per cent of the total, to global enforcement agencies.