KUALA LUMPUR - MERCHANTS who illegally hawk endangered wildlife have begun using blogs to promote their business to tech-savvy customers in Malaysia, an official said on Friday.

Authorities have arrested at least six people who used blogs to unlawfully sell snakes, birds and other protected creatures in recent months, said Mr Sivananthan Elagupillay, the government Wildlife Department's enforcement director.

He said department officials were scouring the Internet to crack down on the new way of communicating by the arcane network of animal buyers and sellers who traditionally have operated by word-of-mouth.

Enforcement officers posing as clients made their latest catch last weekend, detaining a man who sought to sell 17 endangered pythons through his blog, Mr Sivananthan said.

People who possess threatened species of wildlife without an ownership license face a penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine if convicted.

Officials have seized numerous protected creatures this year, including owls, monitor lizards and cobras. Most were meant for restaurants that offer exotic animal meat to the same network of animal buyers and sellers. -- AP