China has become the largest market for illegal wildlife trading with a huge number of related animal products being sold online, according to a new report by a major animal welfare group.

Photo taken on Nov 26, 2014 shows a trafficked falcon in a cage for protection at Zhongshan Park in Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Local police of Ningxia recently uncovered a case of illegal purchasing, transporting and trafficking 24 rare animals, 17 of which are under China's second-class protection, including larks, hawks, and falcons. [Photo/Xinhua]

At least 18,590 animal products were for sale online in the country at the beginning of 2014, the International Fund for Animal Welfare reported on Tuesday. Of the 21 online marketplaces monitored in China, wildlife products valued at $2.7 million were available for sale from March 10 to April 18.

The products mainly involved elephant and rhinoceros ivory, turtles, tortoises and exotic birds, the nonprofit group said. The ivory trade dominated all the sales in the country, with nearly 79 percent of them made up of ivory products.

Worldwide, IFAW's investigators found 33,006 endangered wildlife and related products for sale on 280 online marketplaces in 16 countries early this year.

"The shocking scale of online wildlife trade shows that the Internet poses a real threat to wildlife," said Tania McCrea-Steele, who leads the IFAW Global Internet Wildlife Trade Team.

In China, the number of illegal wildlife products sold online increased from 544 items in 2008 to 2,061 this year, but that did not mean the situation is worsening because the investigations this year were broader in scope and more comprehensive, IFAW China program officer Wang Juan said. Only four websites were monitored in 2008 compared with the 21 tracked this year, Wang said.