Some Successes for Wildlife at 2016 International CITES Meeting
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

BornFreeUSA.org
October 2016

There were a lot of important accomplishments. But, for some species, this is not the end—but, rather, the beginning. We will remain vigilant as we try to protect elephants and rhinos, ensure that lions receive increased protection at the next meeting, and enforce bans on wildlife trade for the good of threatened and endangered species everywhere.

I have just returned from Johannesburg, South Africa, where Born Free USA sent a team to participate in the 17th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). I have attended every meeting since 1994, and I think this was the best overall outcome for wildlife yet.

Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of pro-wildlife government representatives from Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and others, CITES Parties just:

  • Approved listing all eight pangolin species (four in Africa and four in Asia) on Appendix I, thus stopping the commercial trade in their meat and scales;
  • Approved a collection of decisions on stopping the illegal cheetah trade, something with which we have been intimately involved for three years now;
  • Approved a mechanism to begin looking into the trade in African wild dogs, also referred to as painted dogs, who are thought to be sold live to zoos in China and elsewhere;
  • Approved increased protection for imperiled Barbary macaques;
  • Approved listing African grey parrots on Appendix I to save these majestic birds from the destructive global pet trade;
  • Approved a ban on commercial trade in wild lion bones, skeletons, claws, and other specimens and required South Africa to set a quota for any trade from canned hunt facilities;
  • Rejected efforts to delete an important CITES decision that called for an end to intensive commercial tiger breeding facilities in Asia;
  • Rejected efforts by Swaziland to trade in rhino horn; and
  • Rejected efforts by Namibia and Zimbabwe to reopen international trade in ivory.

As you can see, there were a lot of important accomplishments. But, for some species, this is not the end—but, rather, the beginning. We will remain vigilant as we try to protect elephants and rhinos, ensure that lions receive increased protection at the next meeting, and enforce bans on wildlife trade for the good of threatened and endangered species everywhere.

This was a crucial meeting, and I'm proud of the Born Free USA team and all that we accomplished.

Thank you for your support.

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