- Title: CITES regulates more than 130 wild animal species threatened by extinction
- Date: 28th August 2019
- Summary: LAIKIPIA, KENYA (FILE - APRIL 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ELEPHANTS IN RANCH NORTHWEST PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE - SEPTEMBER 20, 2016) (REUTERS) RHINOCEROS WALKING GROUP OF RHINOCEROSES RHINO WALKING
- Embargoed: 11th September 2019 16:31
- Keywords: CITES wildlife trade elephants otters rhinoceros Amazon animals
- Location: LAIKIPIA. SAMBURU AND UNKNOWN LOCATION, KENYA / NORTHWEST PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA / BALI, INDONESIA/ GALAPAGOS, ECUADOR/ GENEVA, SWITZERLAND/ FLORIDA AND TEXAS, UNITED STATES / RONDONIA, BRAZIL / UNKNOWN LOCATION / CHARAGUA, BOLIVIA
- City: LAIKIPIA. SAMBURU AND UNKNOWN LOCATION, KENYA / NORTHWEST PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA / BALI, INDONESIA/ GALAPAGOS, ECUADOR/ GENEVA, SWITZERLAND/ FLORIDA AND TEXAS, UNITED STATES / RONDONIA, BRAZIL / UNKNOWN LOCATION / CHARAGUA, BOLIVIA
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife
- Reuters ID: LVA001AU4W2FB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Countries gave protection to 139 wild animal species, including sharks, elephants and giraffes on international trade after a meeting on global wildlife trade that ended on Wednesday (August 28).
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) gathered 183 states in Geneva as the Amazon wildfires raged.
The parties voted to impose a near-total ban on capturing African elephants from the wild and sending them to zoos, after a heated debate on Tuesday (August 27).
Countries agreed on Sunday (August 18) to strengthen protections for 18 threatened species of sharks and rays, including those whose fins are prized for making Chinese soups.
The species will be listed on the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix II if the preliminary decision is endorsed this week, meaning trade in products will be controlled but not banned.
Last week, countries voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to regulate international trade in giraffes, an endangered species, and in their body parts, overcoming objections by southern African states and drawing praise from conservationists.
More than 100 countries also voted to ban the trade in the smooth-coated otter. Experts say the numbers of wild otters have plumetted by at least 30 percent in the past three decades, accelerated by their popularity as pets in Japan.
CITES regulates the buying and selling of species at risk of extinction around the world, either by imposing outright bans or by requiring permits so that rare animals and plants are not over-harvested.
NGO's welcomed the measures taken during the conference but are now urging states to enforce them.
Species are "endangered by trade, but many of these species' trade is even worse because of the other factors, because of climate change, because of development and because of habitat lost", said NGO Wildlife Conservation Society's vice president of international policy, Susan Lieberman, raising concerns on species caught in the wildfires of the Amazon rainforest.
Agreements passed at the conference are legally binding to the signatory states, and although they do not supersede national law, they set standards for global trade and tourism.
(Production: Cecile Mantovani, Michaela Cabrera) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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