Police are investigating illegal sales of eagles through live webcast platforms, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Monday.

A weibo user posted 18 microblogs on Saturday, showing video clips in which unnamed eagle sellers are livestreaming the eagles they caught or raised. The sellers are said to be from Anhui, Shandong, Hebei and Hunan provinces.

One of the microblogs claimed that a seller from Changsha of Hunan province has an alarming number of raptors at hand, and has been involved in the illegal business for a long time.

Several livestreaming videos run subtitles or notes claiming the eagles are for sale, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

The official weibo account of Hunan provincial public security department said that it has launched an investigation, and will publish results in time.

The whistle-blower said a clue he published online pushed police in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region to start investigating a suspected seller of raptors on livestreaming platforms.

Laws and regulations expressly prohibit selling, purchasing and utilizing of wildlife under special state protection and their products, eagles included.