tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/animal-trade-31302/articlesanimal trade – The Conversation2020-06-10T14:54:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1391322020-06-10T14:54:31Z2020-06-10T14:54:31ZWhy the world needs to ensure wild species are used sustainably<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339744/original/file-20200604-67347-w0mjuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Woman selling baobab fibre mats in Zimbabwe. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rachel Wynberg</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a worldwide crisis of <a href="https://www.ifpri.org/blog/will-covid-19-cause-another-food-crisis-early-review">food insecurity</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/07/covid-19-expected-to-to-wipe-out-67-of-worlds-working-hours">unemployment</a>. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warns of rising <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/2020/04/14/the-great-lockdown-worst-economic-downturn-since-the-great-depression/">hunger and poverty</a>.</p>
<p>Commentators, particularly from the global North, have raised concerns about the implications for biodiversity. The first is that in some places, budgets for biodiversity conservation have been reduced by a drastic drop <a href="https://www.iied.org/despite-covid-19-using-wild-species-may-still-be-best-way-save-them">in tourism revenues</a>, or by the diversion of funds and forces to health-related <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/03/brazil-amazon-protection-coronavirus-fire-season">functions</a>. Secondly, growing poverty and the loss of livelihoods may drive <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52294991">people to poach</a>. </p>
<p>Others are concerned that there will be increased habitat loss due to forest clearance for <a href="https://theconversation.com/natures-comeback-no-the-coronavirus-pandemic-threatens-the-worlds-wildlife-136209%20accessed%2024/04/2020">fuel-wood and subsistence agriculture</a>. There have been widespread calls for the banning of <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/wet-markets-breeding-ground-for-new-coronavirus-by-peter-singer-and-paola-cavalieri-2020-03">wet markets</a> and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/how-to-prevent-the-next-covid-19-conservationists-weigh-in/">use of bushmeat</a>.</p>
<p>The global conservation community has correctly pointed to humankind’s destruction of biodiversity and ecosystems as a <a href="https://ipbes.net/covid19stimulus">cause of the pandemic</a>. We argue for a more nuanced approach. The use of wild species is not a new or unusual livelihood strategy, nor is it necessarily detrimental to conservation. <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2013/envdev1344.doc.htm">Over one billion people</a> across the world rely on such resources for food, medicines, fuel and building materials. </p>
<p>The uses of and trade in wild species include much more than <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/china-wet-markets-covid19-coronavirus-explained/">fuel-wood and illegal wildlife</a>. Our view is that the sustainable use of wild species needs to be recognised as a critical coping and resilience strategy. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339179/original/file-20200602-133910-42rv7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339179/original/file-20200602-133910-42rv7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339179/original/file-20200602-133910-42rv7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339179/original/file-20200602-133910-42rv7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339179/original/file-20200602-133910-42rv7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339179/original/file-20200602-133910-42rv7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339179/original/file-20200602-133910-42rv7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Medicinal herbs being sold in Namibia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rachel Wynberg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Among other things, it provides people with access to their food, fuel, income, and medicine in circumstances where these are unavailable or unaffordable in the mainstream economy. Recognising the value of wild species will both support rural livelihoods and provide important incentives for their sustainable use.</p>
<h2>What we know</h2>
<p>Over 6% of rural households in South Africa (equating to approximately 320,000 households) <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800916315555">trade in at least one wild resource</a>, spanning fuelwood, medicinal plants, weaving fibres, wild foods (insects, fruits, indigenous vegetables, honey, bushmeat), grass and twig brushes, and crafts. The income from such trade equates to about R5,612 per rural household per year.</p>
<p>The use of biodiversity is also a critical buffer against economic shocks, disease and climate change. During the Sudanese war, for example, communities used and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X12001771">sold wild fruits as a coping strategy</a>.</p>
<p>In five southern African countries, over a third of surveyed households resorted to trading in wild foods, wood and medicinal products <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/dpr.12261">because they lost their primary earning member</a> to disease. </p>
<p>In Zimbabwe, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203120880">baobab use and trade soared</a> in parallel to the collapse of the economy. </p>
<p>The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase people’s reliance on wild resources as a safety net. This will be particularly true for informal workers, who comprise <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/07/covid-19-expected-to-to-wipe-out-67-of-worlds-working-hours">three-fifths of the global workforce</a>.</p>
<h2>What can be done now</h2>
<p>Much of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1505/ifor.9.3.697">trade in wild species</a> occurs in informal markets that are not recognised by governments and remain poorly supported. However, informal and traditional markets in low and middle-income countries often provide buyers with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247819858019">economical, fresh and nutritious foods</a> that may not be available in supermarkets. </p>
<p>In the absence of organised representation, regulation and safety nets, informal markets are among the leading economies to suffer in the event of <a href="https://www.ifpri.org/blog/covid-19-lockdowns-threaten-africas-vital-informal-urban-food-trade">disasters and economic shocks</a>. Already, informal vendors of vegetables and wild species have been attacked by the police in Zimbabwe for <a href="https://iharare.com/watch-police-confiscate-and-burn-vegetables-in-ruthless-enforcement-of-lockdown-after-3-am-raid/">contravening lockdown rules</a>.</p>
<p>Informal markets are, however, an opportunity. They could form the backbone of the pandemic response, given that they cater to densely populated informal settlements and rural communities that must <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-ensure-poor-people-in-africas-cities-can-still-get-food-during-lockdowns-136297">shelter in place</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339177/original/file-20200602-133902-u79mgb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339177/original/file-20200602-133902-u79mgb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339177/original/file-20200602-133902-u79mgb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339177/original/file-20200602-133902-u79mgb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339177/original/file-20200602-133902-u79mgb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339177/original/file-20200602-133902-u79mgb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339177/original/file-20200602-133902-u79mgb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mopane worms at a market in South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">George Sekonya</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than curbing the use and trade of wild species through informal and wet markets, governments could recognise trade based on sustainable use through necessary support measures. These could include decriminalising trade, allowing informal traders at strategically situated places at <a href="https://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/agriculture/food-and-agriculture-during-a-pandemic-managing-the-consequences.html">staggered times</a>, and providing facilities for sanitation, shelter, storage, disposal bins, and lights. </p>
<h2>Looking towards the future</h2>
<p>The pandemic has spurred a move towards urban home gardening to attain a level of self-sufficiency in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/dining/victory-gardens-coronavirus.html">households across America</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-020-00150-8">Italy</a>, and <a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/coronavirus-lockdown-pill-grow-your-own-vegetables/cid/1766386">India</a>. In South Africa, where low-income <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837714001501">housing greening is underway</a>, the domestication of commonly available and easily propagated wild species could be supported, contributing to people’s <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0230693">well-being and the local economy</a>.</p>
<p>Wild species use can help perpetuate the knowledge and values of biodiversity conservation and species propagation, as well as foster <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866717307586">long-term relationships</a> between people and their environment. For example, some people who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605317001855">coexist with sea turtles</a> use their eggs in food preparations, and also protect them as vulnerable and valuable members of their community and identity.</p>
<p>In the future, this knowledge and continued use of wild species can act as an insurance against cataclysmic events. For example, in addition to being packed with micro-nutrients, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/9/1569/htm">some wild species</a> such as wild medlars and leguminous plants need very little input to grow and withstand harsh weather conditions better than conventional crop food species.</p>
<p>Smallholder farmers tend to plant <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-simulated-how-a-modern-dust-bowl-would-impact-global-food-supplies-and-thsustainable%20e-result-is-devastating-133662">a diverse suite of plants</a> to reduce their chances of crop failure. Typically, wild species are an important component on such farms. Sustainable use of wild species from forests and on farms may <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0293-3">reduce people’s dependence</a> on food and material from other regions where they are mass-produced, often at a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956247819866124">high environmental and social cost</a>. </p>
<p>As global society emerges from the lockdown, we should look at sustainable biodiversity use as an opportunity to re-balance our relationship with nature.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139132/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlie Shackleton receives funding from National Research Foundation (South Africa) (grant no. 84379). This article is written in his personal capacity and does not represent the views of any of the NRF. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James George Sekonya has previously received funding from the National Research Foundation and the University of Cape Town. His contribution to this article is in his personal capacity and does not represent views of any organization. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Wynberg works for the University of Cape Town, South Africa where she holds a research chair funded by the Department of Science and Technology and National Research Foundation. She serves on the Boards of Biowatch South Africa, Environmental Monitoring Group and the Union for Ethical BioTrade. This article is written in her personal capacity and does not represent the views of any of these organisations. No benefit will accrue to any organisation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mallika Sardeshpande does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the world deals with COVID-19, the sustainable use of wild species is a critical coping and resilience strategy.Mallika Sardeshpande, Senior research associate, Urban foodscapes and biodiversity, University of KwaZulu-NatalCharlie Shackleton, Professor & Research Chair in Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods, Rhodes UniversityJames George Sekonya, PhD Researcher in Environmental & Geographical Sciences, University of Cape TownRachel Wynberg, Professor and DST/NRF Bio-economy Research Chair, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1386212020-06-04T04:20:30Z2020-06-04T04:20:30ZBack from extinction: a world first effort to return threatened pangolins to the wild<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335527/original/file-20200517-138629-1y8hfvn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C449%2C3049%2C1746&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Braczkowski</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pangolins are <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-is-a-pangolin">one of the most</a> illegally trafficked animals on the planet and are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/30/global-report-new-clues-about-how-coronavirus-formed-as-us-severs-ties-with-who">suspected to be linked</a> to the current coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>Pangolins are also one of the world’s most <a href="https://www.pangolins.org/tag/endangered-species/">threatened species</a> but new efforts are underway to reintroduce pangolins to parts of Africa where the animal has been extinct for decades.</p>
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<p>The reintroduction of pangolins has not been easy. But it’s vital to prevent this shy, mysterious creature from being lost forever.</p>
<h2>A cute but threatened species</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-is-a-pangolin">Pangolins</a> are the only mammals wholly-covered in scales, which they use to protect themselves from predators. They can also curl up into a tight ball.</p>
<p>They eat mainly ants, termites and larvae which they pick up with their sticky tongue. They can grow up to 1m in length from nose to tail and are sometimes referred to as scaly anteaters.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128155073000332" title="Chapter 33 - Conservation strategies and priority actions for pangolins">all eight</a> pangolin species are classified as “<a href="https://www.pangolins.org/tag/endangered-species/">threatened</a>” under International Union for Conservation of Nature <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=pangolin&searchType=species">criteria</a>. </p>
<p>There is an unprecedented demand for their scales, primarily from countries in Asia and <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12389" title="Assessing Africa‐Wide Pangolin Exploitation by Scaling Local Data">Africa</a> where they are used in food, cultural remedies and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/141072b0" title="Chinese Medicine and the Pangolin">medicine</a>. </p>
<p>Between 2017 and 2019, seizures of pangolin scales <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/02/pangolin-scale-trade-shipments-growing/">tripled in volume</a>. In 2019 alone, 97 tons of pangolin scales, equivalent to about 150,000 animals, were <a href="https://oxpeckers.org/2020/03/nigeria-steps-up-for-pangolins/">reportedly</a> intercepted leaving Africa.</p>
<p>There is further evidence of the illegal trade in pangolin species openly on <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/coronavirus-pangolins-outbreak-endangered-species-wildlife-trafficking-a9504776.html">social media platforms</a> such as Facebook.</p>
<p>The intense global trafficking of the species means the entire order (<em>Pholidota</em>) is threatened with <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12389" title="Assessing Africa‐Wide Pangolin Exploitation by Scaling Local Data">extinction</a>. For example, the Temminck’s pangolins (<em>Smutsia temminckii</em>) went extinct in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal Province three decades ago.</p>
<h2>Reintroduction of an extinct species</h2>
<p>Each year in South Africa the African Pangolin Working Group (<a href="https://africanpangolin.org/">APWG</a>) retrieves between 20 and 40 pangolins through intelligence operations with security forces.</p>
<p>These pangolins are often-traumatised and injured and are admitted to the <a href="http://www.johannesburgwildlifevet.com/our-hospital">Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital</a> for extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation before they can be considered for release.</p>
<p>In 2019, seven rescued Temminck’s pangolins were reintroduced into South Africa’s <a href="https://www.andbeyond.com/destinations/africa/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/phinda-private-game-reserve/">Phinda Private Game Reserve</a>in the KwaZulu Natal Province.</p>
<p>Nine months on, five have survived. This reintroduction is a world first for a region that last saw a viable population of this species in the 1980s.</p>
<p>During the release, every individual pangolin followed a strict regime. They needed to become familiar with their new surroundings and be able to forage efficiently.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335954/original/file-20200519-83384-16p7a3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pangolins curl up into a tight ball of scales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Braczkowski</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Previous releases, including early on in South Africa and in other countries such as the <a href="https://pcsd.gov.ph/igov/2020/01/30/twenty-philippine-pangolins-released-back-into-the-wild/">Philippines</a>, the <a href="https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/13877/Its-UN-World-Wildlife-Day-Today-March-3-Rare-Giant-Pangolin-Seized-from-Poachers-Rescued-and-Released-by-WCS-and-Partners-in-Congo.aspx">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> and <a href="https://www.discoverwildlife.com/news/rescued-pangolin-released-back-into-the-wild/">Thailand</a> had minimal post-release monitoring.</p>
<p>Pangolins released immediately following medical treatment had a low level of survival for various reasons, including inability to adapt to their release sites. </p>
<h2>A ‘soft release’ in to the wild</h2>
<p>The process on Phinda game reserve involved a more gentle ease into re-wilding a population in a region that had not seen pangolins for many decades. </p>
<p>The soft release had two phases:</p>
<ol>
<li>a pre-release observational period</li>
<li>an intensive monitoring period post release employing GPS satellite as well as VHF tracking tags. </li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335533/original/file-20200517-138610-1w0ip8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A satellite tag is fitted to each pangolin before release and transmits its location on an hourly basis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Braczkowski</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The pre-release period lasted between two to three weeks and were characterised by daily walks (three to five hours) of individuals on the reserves. These walks were critical for acclimatising individuals to the local habitat, its sounds, smells and possible threats. It also helped them source suitable and sufficient ant and termite species for food.</p>
<p>Following that, the post release period of two to three months involved locating released pangolins daily at first, and then twice per week where they were weighed, a rapid health assessment was made and habitat features such as burrows and refuges monitored. </p>
<p>Phinda reserve manager Simon Naylor said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>A key component of the post release period was whether individuals gained or maintained their weight.</p>
<p>The way the animals move after release also reveals important clues to whether they will stay in an area; if they feed, roll in dung, enter burrows. Much of this behaviour indicates site fidelity and habitat acceptance.</p>
</blockquote>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-aussie-bats-wont-give-you-covid-19-we-rely-on-them-more-than-you-think-137168">No, Aussie bats won’t give you COVID-19. We rely on them more than you think</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Following nine months of monitoring and tracking, five of the seven survived in the region. One died of illness while the other was killed by a Nile crocodile. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335534/original/file-20200517-138665-ll321d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Released pangolins are located at burrows like this one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alex Braczkowski</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why pangolin reintroduction is important</h2>
<p>We know so little about this group of mammals that are vastly understudied and hold many secrets yet to be discovered by science but are on the verge of collapse.</p>
<p>The South African and Phinda story is one of hope for the Temminck’s pangolin where they once again roam the savanna hills and plains of Zululand.</p>
<p>The process of relocating these trade animals back into the wild has taken many turns, failures and tribulations but, the recipe of the “soft release” is working.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138621/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Duan Biggs receives funding from Australian Research Council, Luc Hoffmann Institute.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raymond Jansen is affiliated with the African Pangolin Working Group as founder and chairman of this non-profit organisation. Furthermore, I was responsible for retrieving these pangolins out of the illegal wildlife trade. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Richard Braczkowski and Christopher J. O'Bryan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pangolins are illegally traded, linked to the coronavirus pandemic and driven to extinction in some areas. That’s why it’s vital to reintroduce this threatened species back into the wild.Alexander Richard Braczkowski, Research Associate, Griffith UniversityChristopher J. O'Bryan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of QueenslandDuan Biggs, Senior Research Fellow Social-Ecological Systems & Resilience, Griffith UniversityRaymond Jansen, Professor: Zoology & Ecology, Tshwane University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1352792020-04-04T13:56:10Z2020-04-04T13:56:10Z‘Tiger King’ and America’s captive tiger problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325102/original/file-20200402-74874-1kfwa2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3462%2C2528&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many breeders say they're stewards of conservation, but no captive tiger has ever been released into the wild.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Tiger-Attack/836b7b25a7e947b79635b32f85d3894a/99/0">AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: Netflix’s new docuseries “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11823076/">Tiger King</a>” takes viewers into the strange world of big cat collectors. Featuring eccentric characters with names like Joe Exotic and Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, the series touches on polygamy, addiction and personality cults, while exploring a mysterious disappearance and a murder-for-hire.</em></p>
<p><em>To Allison Skidmore, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Santa Cruz who studies wildlife trafficking, the documentary didn’t bring enough attention to the scourge of captive big cats.</em></p>
<p><em>A former park ranger, Skidmore first started studying the issue in the U.S. after the infamous death of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/03/wildlife-watch-cecil-trophy-hunting-andrew-loveridge/">Cecil the Lion</a> in Zimbabwe in 2015. She was shocked to learn about how little oversight there was stateside. We asked her about the legality, incentives and ease of buying and selling tigers.</em> </p>
<h2>1. How many captive tigers are in the US?</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward answer. The vast majority of captive tigers are crossbred hybrids, so they aren’t identified as members of one of the <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/genomic-study-confirms-theres-six-tiger-subspecies-left">six tiger subspecies</a> – the Bengal tiger, Amur tiger, South China tiger, Sumatran tiger, Indochinese tiger and Malayan tiger. Instead, they’re classified as “generic.”</p>
<p>Less than 5% – or <a href="https://www.aza.org/tiger-conservation">fewer than 350</a> – of tigers in captivity are managed through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a nonprofit organization that serves as an accrediting body in the U.S. They ensure accredited facilities meet higher standards of animal care than required by law. </p>
<p>All the rest are privately owned tigers, meaning they don’t belong to one of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ 236 sponsored institutions. These are considered generic and fall outside of federal oversight. </p>
<p>There’s no legal requirement to register these generic tigers, nor a comprehensive national database to track and monitor them. The best educated guess puts the number of tigers <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Blood_of_the_Tiger.html?id=EvcCBAAAQBAJ">at around 10,000</a> in the U.S. Estimates put the global captive tiger population <a href="https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1000&context=faculty_scholarship">as high as 25,000</a>. </p>
<p>In comparison, there are fewer than <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/42587800_Killing_Tigers_to_Save_Them_Fallacies_of_the_Farming_Argument">4,000 tigers in the wild – down from 100,000 a century ago</a>. </p>
<h2>2. How do tigers change hands?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fws.gov/endangered/laws-policies/">Endangered Species Act</a> and the <a href="https://www.cites.org/">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna</a> prevent the importation of tigers from the wild. So all tigers in the U.S. are born in captivity, with the rare exception of an orphaned wild cub that may end up in a zoo.</p>
<p>Only purebred tigers that are one of the six definitive subspecies are accounted for; these are the tigers you see in places like the <a href="https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/tiger">Smithsonian National Zoo</a> and generally belong to the <a href="https://www.aza.org/species-survival-plan-programs">Species Survival Plan</a>, a captive breeding program designed to regulate the exchange of specific endangered species between member zoos in order to maintain genetic diversity.</p>
<p>All other tigers are found in zoos, sanctuaries, carnivals, wildlife parks, exhibits and private homes that aren’t sanctioned by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They can change hands in any number of ways, from <a href="https://friendlyexoticpets.com/our-exotics/tiger-cubs-for-adoption/">online marketplaces</a> to exotic animal auctions. They can be bought for as little as <a href="https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/5400/paper-tigers.pdf">US$800 to $2,000 for a cub and $200 to $500 for an adult</a>, which is less expensive than<a href="https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/pets/most-expensive-dog-breeds/#3"> many purebred dog puppies</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Can I legally buy a tiger?</h2>
<p>The U.S. is plagued with complicated and vague laws concerning tiger ownership. </p>
<p>However, there are no federal statutes or regulations that expressly forbid private ownership of tigers. State and local jurisdictions have been given this authority, <a href="https://wcclas.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CANasserTigerArticle.pdf">and some do pass bans or require permits</a>. Thirty-two states have bans or partial bans, and 14 states allow ownership with a simple license or permit. Four states – Alabama, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada – have no form of oversight or regulation at all.</p>
<p>An overarching, cohesive framework of regulations is missing, and even in states that ban private ownership, there are loopholes. For example, in all but three states, owners can apply for what’s called a “federal exhibitor license,” which is remarkably cheap and easy to obtain and <a href="https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=faculty_scholarship">circumvents any stricter state or local laws in place</a>. </p>
<p>You now <a href="https://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?_ID=35543">need a permit</a> to transport tigers across state lines, but there’s still no permit required for intra-state travel. </p>
<h2>4. What’s in it for the owners?</h2>
<p>Some see it as a business venture, while others claim they care about conservation. I consider the latter reason insincere. </p>
<p>Many facilities <a href="http://dadecityswildthings.com/">promote themselves</a> as <a href="https://myrtlebeachsafari.com/">wildlife refuges or sanctuaries</a>. These places frame their breeding and exhibition practices as stewardship, as if they’re contributing to an endangered animal’s survival. The reality is that <a href="http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=philip_nyhus">no captive tiger has ever been released into the wild</a>, so it’s not like these facilities can augment wild populations. A true sanctuary or refuge should have a strict no breeding or handling policy, and should have education programs dedicated to promoting conservation.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325098/original/file-20200402-74895-7tltd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325098/original/file-20200402-74895-7tltd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325098/original/file-20200402-74895-7tltd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325098/original/file-20200402-74895-7tltd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=829&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325098/original/file-20200402-74895-7tltd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325098/original/file-20200402-74895-7tltd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325098/original/file-20200402-74895-7tltd6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1042&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bottle-feeding at a ‘pseudo-sanctuary’ in Southern California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Allison Skidmore</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ultimately, tigers are big money makers, especially tiger cubs. The <a href="https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act">Animal Welfare Act</a> allows cub petting from eight to 12 weeks of age. <a href="http://dadecityswildthings.com/animal-encounters/">People pay</a> $100 to $700 to pet, bottle-feed, swim with or take a photo with a cub.</p>
<p>None of these profits go toward the conservation of wild tigers, and this small window of opportunity for direct public contact means that exhibitors must continually breed tigers to maintain a constant supply of cubs.</p>
<p>The value of cubs declines significantly after 12 weeks. Where do all these surplus tigers go? Unfortunately, due to a lack of regulatory oversight, it’s hard to know.</p>
<p>Since many states don’t account for their live tigers, there’s also <a href="https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/5400/paper-tigers.pdf">no oversight regarding the reporting and disposal of dead tigers</a>. Wildlife criminologists fear that these tigers can easily end up in the black market where their parts can cumulatively <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1468794116668001?journalCode=qrja">be worth up to $70,000</a>. There’s evidence of U.S. captive tigers tied to the domestic black market trade: In 2003, an owner of a tiger “rescue” facility <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-04-24-0304240300-story.html">was found to have 90 dead tigers in freezers on his property</a>. And in 2001, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV0Ep2lNSUM">an undercover investigation</a> led by the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> ended up leading to the prosecutions of 16 people for buying, selling and slaughtering 19 tigers.</p>
<h2>5. What role does social media play?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/06/global-wildlife-tourism-social-media-causes-animal-suffering/">Posing with tigers</a> on social media platforms like Instagram and on dating apps has become a huge problem. Not only can it create a health and safety risk for <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tiger-kills-teenage-girl-in-kansas/">both the human and tiger</a>, but it also fosters a false narrative.</p>
<p>If you see thousands of photos of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B-cvkaxD-W1/">people with captive tigers</a>, it masks the true problem of endangered tigers in the wild. Some might wonder whether tigers are really so endangered if they’re so easy to pose with.</p>
<p>The reality of the wild tiger’s plight has become masked behind the pomp and pageantry of social media. This marginalizes meaningful ideas about conservation and the true status of tigers as one of the most endangered big cats.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Skidmore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are more captive tigers in the US than there are in the wild around the world – and they can be bought for less than some breeds of dog puppies.Allison Skidmore, PhD Candidate in Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa CruzLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/919952018-02-19T17:08:55Z2018-02-19T17:08:55ZPutting primates on screen is fuelling the illegal pet trade<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206965/original/file-20180219-75961-10d98lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C190%2C4096%2C1913&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">War for the Planet of the Apes used no real primates.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Twentieth Century Fox</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why would animal rights organisation PETA <a href="https://www.peta.org/blog/war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes/">praise a film</a> in which a group of apes are brutally attacked by humans? The answer is that War for the Planet of the Apes, the most recent movie in the franchise, used no real primates in its filming.</p>
<p>Yet while computer generated imagery is now good enough to create realistic looking animals on screen, some movies still employ actual non-human primates. In the last few years, primate actors have been used in major Hollywood films such as The Hangover Part II (2011), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).</p>
<p>Regardless of how these animals are treated on set, the reality is that they’re being placed in unnatural environments and made to act for other people’s amusement against their will. What’s more, there’s evidence that using real primates on screen actually encourages the illegal pet trade. It’s estimated that <a href="http://www.un-grasp.org/stolen-apes-report/">more than 3,000 great apes</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26684269">hundreds of thousands of other primates</a> are traded as pets and bush meat each year. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2018.1406197">recent study</a> of films released between 1990 and 2013 found 70 movies in which primate actors appeared. Chimpanzees, capuchins and old-world monkeys were the most commonly used animals. The study found that more than half the time they were shown among people, dressed up and performing human actions. It also found that primates on screen were “smiling” 19% of the time, something <a href="http://www.janegoodall.org.uk/chimpanzees/chimpanzee-central/15-chimpanzees/chimpanzee-central/27-chimpanzees-in-entertainment">that primatologists widely recognise</a> as an expression of fear or submission.</p>
<p>Using primate actors was just as common at the end of the time period studied, even though much more had been learned about the complex welfare needs of these animals. The study concluded that using primates in film-making compromised their welfare by removing them from their social groups, training them to perform unnatural actions, and denying them the opportunity to behave naturally. All of these things have lasting negative psychological and physical effects on primates.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206970/original/file-20180219-116346-koagx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206970/original/file-20180219-116346-koagx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206970/original/file-20180219-116346-koagx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206970/original/file-20180219-116346-koagx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206970/original/file-20180219-116346-koagx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206970/original/file-20180219-116346-koagx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206970/original/file-20180219-116346-koagx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Putting chimps to work affects how we see them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Me_and_the_Chimp_Reta_Shaw_Buttons_1972.jpg">Wikimedia/CBS Television Network</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The research also showed that using primates in films made people think the animals were less endangered than they really were, something backed up by a number of other studies. For example, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0026048">one paper from 2008</a> surveyed members of the public and found 95% of respondents thought gorillas were endangered, 91% perceived orangutans to be endangered, but only 66% believed that chimpanzees were endangered. The specific survey responses suggested that this was because chimpanzees are often seen in films and TV programmes and their images often appear on comical greeting cards and in advertisements.</p>
<p>The participants in that research were also shown videos of chimpanzees in their natural environment and in unnatural situations, such as dancing to music or working in an office. Those who watched the unnatural videos were more likely to think it was acceptable to own a pet chimp and less likely to think the animal was endangered. This was echoed by <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0022050">a 2011 study</a> that just seeing a photo of a chimp and a human together, as opposed to a chimp on its own, increased the probability of participants wanting the animal as a pet.</p>
<p>Further <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/444231">research from 2015</a> analysed comments from viewers after watching a YouTube video of a human tickling a <a href="https://theconversation.com/cute-slow-loris-videos-should-come-with-a-health-warning-17029">slow loris</a>. They found 25% of viewers wanted to keep a slow loris as a pet, but when information about their conservation crisis was added, this dropped to 10%. Although the human owner may have thought the slow loris enjoyed being tickled, the primate was raising their arms to activate their defence venom.</p>
<h2>Traumatic treatment</h2>
<p>From this evidence, we can see how portraying primates as human caricatures in the media fuels demand for them as pets. The illegal pet trade sees wild infant primates <a href="http://www.wildfutures.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Primates-as-pets_Is-there-a-case-for-regulation-2012_LR.pdf">taken from their highly protective mothers</a> soon after birth. Poachers will often kill the adults as they fight to protect the infant from being taken. The adults are sold as bush meat at local markets and the infants sold illegally as pets.</p>
<p>These traumatised infants, who would normally spend up to five years with their mothers living in complex social groups, are deprived of normal development by their human carers. It’s increasingly common for primate owners to share videos of their “pets” on social media being clothed, bathed, fed inappropriate diets and forced to interact with domesticated animals such as dogs.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BL6txzZhG90/?taken-by=realdiddykong","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Pet primates are also often permanently harmed to make them “safer” for their human owners. For example, pygmy marmosets (also known as finger monkeys), <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.22516/abstract">the most trafficked</a> primate species after squirrel monkeys, live in the Amazon rain forest and have sharp teeth to drain sap from trees. Pet traders will often remove the monkeys’ sharp teeth to prevent potential owners from getting bitten. Shockingly, it is not illegal to own one of these primates in the UK – and owners are often unaware of how and where their pets were obtained.</p>
<p>Exploiting wild primates for entertainment must be stopped. The evidence suggests that using these animals in film-making, especially when they’re so often portrayed as human companions and caricatures, only adds to the demand for their part in the brutal illegal pet trade. </p>
<p>The Planet of the Apes series and other films have proven that animatronics and computer graphics offer a realistic substitute for the use of primate actors. But there is still concern that portraying primates, whether real or robotic, with humans and in unnatural situations gives the dangerous impression that they make suitable pets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lesley Elizabeth Craig does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Using real apes and monkeys as actors in film and TV encourages people to see them as pets.Lesley Elizabeth Craig, Researcher, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/708732017-01-08T07:14:26Z2017-01-08T07:14:26ZWhy Zimbabwe’s use of elephants to pay off old debt to China is problematic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151813/original/image-20170105-18668-deutm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zimbabwe are looking to sell 35 young elephants to China in the hopes of settling an old debt.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A bizarre story has recently come out of Zimbabwe. Grace Mugabe, the politically powerful wife of the ageing president Robert Mugabe, has come up with a plan to settle <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/zimbabwark-to-settle-mugabe-debt-vww9ctqrb">a debt to China</a> with 35 young elephants, eight lions, 12 hyenas and a giraffe. The debt was incurred in 1998 when Zimbabwe sent troops and bought equipment from China to help President Laurent Kabila in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Kabila needed help fighting off a rebel movement backed by Uganda and Rwanda.</p>
<p>Zimbabwe’s use of live wildlife as a commodity is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/23/zimbabwe-ships-live-elephants-to-wildlife-parks-in-china">nothing new</a>. And it’s not the only country to do so. It is quite common for southern African states to sell what they consider to be surplus animals to zoos or safari parks outside Africa. </p>
<p>In January 2016, the US Fish and Wildlife Service gave the go ahead for Swaziland to export 18 elephants to <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160122-Swaziland-Elephants-Import-US-Zoos/">zoos in the US</a>. Between 2010 and 2014 an estimated 500 white rhinos and 20 elephants were exported from <a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/28/live-elephant-and-rhino-trade-debated-at-wildlife-convention/">African range states</a>. </p>
<p>Animals are also exported to restock parks or reserves elsewhere on the continent. <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2016/05/20/overpopulated-conservancy-seeks-ship-excess-lions/">Zimbabwe’s Bubye Valley Conservancy</a>, for example, is arranging to send 8-10 lions to Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia. The aim is to help them re-establish prides in areas depleted of lions.</p>
<p>The sale of live animals is <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141217-zimbabwe-china-elephants-zoos-tuli-botswana-south-africa/">highly controversial</a>, but not illegal as long as rules established by <a href="https://www.cites.org/">CITES</a> are followed. These require that live exports only be between two CITES members and that both parties’ management authorities for CITES ensure that the export permits are valid.</p>
<p>The authorities need to ensure that “the export of the animals would not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild” and would be taken to “to appropriate and acceptable destinations”. </p>
<p>But the removal of young elephants from their herds – as happened in Zimbabwe – is highly damaging to the animals and to the herd as a whole. This form of removal has been called a <a href="http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/grace-mugabe-pays-military-debt-to-china-with-35-zim-jumbos-report-20161227y">“a mad act of cruelty”.</a></p>
<p>The Zimbabwean embassy in China has denied the reports of the sale and there has been no word from the environment minister in Harare. The story will be embarrassing for China at a time when it is basking in praise over its announcement of a coming ban on <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/china-ban-ivory-trade-2017-161230183540915.html">ivory working and retail sales</a>.</p>
<h2>Why selling live elephants is a problem</h2>
<p>At the CITES Conference of the Parties in Johannesburg last year members of the <a href="https://cites.org/eng/news/Current_rules_commercial_international_trade_elephant_ivory_under_CITES_Proposals_CITES_CoP17_200716">African Elephant Coalition</a> – a 29 member grouping of African states opposed to any trade in ivory or the export outside the continent of live elephants – attempted to get the CITES regulation changed to limit exports to relocation inside Africa and to ban exports to other continents. It was opposed by southern African states and China and did not get sufficient support to go to a vote. Instead a US compromise proposal was passed tightening the export regulations and attempting to ensure that ivory or horn from exported live animals did not enter the illegal trade system.</p>
<p>One of the concerns raised by NGOs and wildlife activists about the export of live elephants to China is that they will at some stage be farmed and their ivory harvested to be sold at a huge profit. <a href="http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/grace-mugabe-pays-military-debt-to-china-with-35-zim-jumbos-report-20161227">This fear was expressed by conservationists</a> when news about Zimbabwe’s most recent debt-settling plan emerged. </p>
<p>There is also concern that animals go to zoos with <a href="http://varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk/index.php/2012/01/animal-performance-china/">poor welfare records</a> or where cruel methods will be used to make the animals into little more than circus performers.</p>
<h2>Zimbabwe’s justification</h2>
<p>Zimbabwean ministers and wildlife officials have for years defended the regular sale of elephants and other wildlife to China. They have justified it by saying they need to reduce pressure of numbers in over-stocked reserves and raise funds for conservation. But there is no proof that the money raised goes back into conservation and clearly using elephants to settle military-related debts does little for conservation. </p>
<p>The official Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority <a href="http://www.zimparks.org/index.php/mc/176-live-sales-of-elephants">website</a> justifies live exports as a means of sustainably supporting conservation and reducing pressure of numbers on eco-systems. Over-population of elephants, in particular, can damage habitats, put pressure on other vulnerable species and lead to conflict with local communities, whose crops may be damaged or destroyed.</p>
<p>But while a conservation case may be made quite cogently for limiting numbers, the export of live animals seems more related to profit than sustainable use conservation. And the fate of live animals exported is also being questioned. There are <a href="http://traveller24.news24.com/Explore/Green/shockwildlifetruths-zim-baby-elephants-heading-for-chinese-zoo-20161107">reports</a> that, when the young elephants were being captured in Zimbabwe, 37 were caught but only 35 were sold to China because two died soon after capture.</p>
<p>The Zimbabwean Minister of the Environment, Water and Climate, Oppiah Muchinguri-Kashiri strongly advocates the sale of animals to raise money. But she doesn’t appear to have a strong grasp of the facts of conservation and the trade in animals or their products. This is evident in how adamant she was that Zimbabwe could sell its ivory stockpile to China despite the CITES decision.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Zimbabwe is forging ahead with planned sales to raise desperately needed cash. Reports from the <a href="http://savetheelephants.org/about-elephants-2-3/elephant-news-post/?detail=cecil-the-lion-family-might-be-targeted-for-zimbabwe-export-to-china-zoo">Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force</a> in September last year said that the Zimbabwe Wildlife Department was capturing animals to meet an order from China for 130 elephants and 50 lions. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-35233259">January last year</a> the minister defended past sales and said they would be continued. In the previous six months Zimbabwe had sold 100 elephants to Chinese zoos at a cost of $40,000 each.</p>
<p>It is very clear that Zimbabwe’s environment minister and wildlife authorities have no qualms about the questionable trade in live animals. They are willing to sell animals to Chinese zoos and safari parks, some of which have less than <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150925-elephants-china-zimbabwe-cites-joyce-poole-zoos-wildlife-trade/">spotless records for animal welfare</a> and are <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2861424/Is-cute-cruel-Activists-fear-treatment-animals-Chinese-wildlife-park-home-biggest-population-koalas-outside-Australia.html">barely distinguishable from circuses</a>. </p>
<p>One destination for Zimbabwean elephants is the huge and widely criticised <a href="http://varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk/index.php/2012/01/animal-performance-china/">Chimelong Wildlife Park</a>, which includes a circus and stages a variety of dubious performances and stunts involving its animals. </p>
<p>It is hard to draw a clear line to show where justifiable sustainable-use and sheer exploitation for profit begins. But it is clear that Zimbabwe and China have crossed that line.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Somerville does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Zimbabwe are looking to resolve a debt to China by selling animals to them. But one of the concerns is that the elephants sold will eventually be farmed and their ivory harvested.Keith Somerville, Visiting Professor, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/656652016-09-22T17:11:36Z2016-09-22T17:11:36ZThe ban on ivory sales has been an abject failure. A rethink is needed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138765/original/image-20160922-22544-1g01agz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The fate of elephants ultimately lies in the hands of humans and a continued ban will not solve the poaching problem.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The issue of trade in African elephant ivory will dominate the 2016 <a href="https://cites.org/eng/cop/index.php">CITES Conference of the Parties</a> meeting. Debate will revolve around maintaining or lifting the ban on trade, but with little chance of addressing the overarching human element. For example, what impact has the trade ban had on local communities? And what is the relationship between their livelihoods and elephant protection and poaching?</p>
<p>There has been vocal support for maintaining a ban on the trade in ivory. But <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2016.1201378">the central arguments</a> for a continuation of the ban fail to grasp the mismatch between a CITES trade ban and Africa’s de facto realities. Instead, overly simplistic views are aired that are blind to grass root complexities and nuances. </p>
<p>This narrow lens leads to the prescription of a “one size fits all” solution under which both communities, and elephants, ultimately suffer. Elephants are treated as a global commons. In fact their fate ultimately lies in the hands of humans which is why a continued ban, with increased enforcement accompanied by demand reduction, will not solve the poaching problem. </p>
<p>Indeed, regaining control of elephant ivory as a resource is the core problem around which the trade debate centres. It also concerns itself with allocation of power and control of resources among governments, communities and institutions.</p>
<p>Opponents of a legal trade in elephant ivory give the impression that there is a deep crisis: elephants are headed for extinction. Yet the status of elephants varies greatly across and within Africa. The greatest losses have occurred in central and west Africa, the continent’s two most politically <a href="http://www.elephantdatabase.org/preview_report/2013_africa_final/2013/Africa">unstable regions</a>.</p>
<p>Contrast this with southern Africa, which has experienced a steady rise in elephant populations and is now home to <a href="http://www.elephantdatabase.org/preview_report/2013_africa_final/2013/Africa">two-thirds of Africa’s elephants</a>.
There is a problem, but it’s not continent-wide problem. The global population of the African elephant is not in immediate danger of extinction.</p>
<h2>A legal ivory trade</h2>
<p>A major flaw in the argument against those wanting to lift the ban is that legalising the sale of ivory may fail to reduce its price. But the pro-trade southern Africa countries are not seeking to drive prices downward. Why would they want to reduce the income from a product over which they have a competitive advantage?</p>
<p>Southern African countries’ aim is to realise the maximum income that the market will pay in a trading system based on <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/prop/060216/E-CoP17-Prop-15.pdf">regular sales</a>. They want to gain control of the supply of ivory to a market that has been seized by illegal traders. Money from the legal sale of ivory would provide income to rural peoples who live with elephants – establishing the incentives for <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/feature/point_the_case_for_a_legal_ivory_trade_it_could_help_stop_the_slaughter/2814/">their conservation</a>. </p>
<p>The ultimate goal of southern African countries is the transition from the present land-use system to a higher-valued one where rural people derive a better living from alternative options. This requires an enabling framework that does not include ivory trade bans or donor-dependent conservation. One example is Namibia’s Conservancy Programme, generally regarded as the <a href="ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/aj114e/aj114e10.pdf">most successful</a> in southern Africa.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138766/original/image-20160922-22533-1q9f2y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Money from the legal sale of ivory would provide income to rural peoples who live with elephants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Southern Africa needs higher-valued land uses to survive an impending <a href="http://www.unocha.org/el-nino-southern-africa">environmental crisis</a>. The lives of millions of people are at risk through climate change. By demanding the inception of a legal ivory trade at CITES, southern African nations are seeking no more than that ivory sales assist in alleviating this crisis. Its sheer magnitude makes CITES’ preoccupation with listing species on Appendices irrelevant. It is a case of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.</p>
<p>Responsible global citizens should be doing everything in their power to facilitate a legal ivory trade that will mitigate human misery, realise the true potential of elephants and ultimately result in their long-term conservation. The likely annual proceeds from ivory for the anti-ban nations are of the order of US$1.5 billion. </p>
<p>This is calculated on the basis of around 300,000 elephants producing 500kg of ivory per 1,000 elephants at a value <a href="https://www.cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/62/E62-46-04-A.pdf">of US$1,000/kg</a>. Existing rural community institutions are in place to ensure that funds are returned to <a href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2840580">local people</a>. </p>
<h2>Demand is in flux, prices sensitive</h2>
<p>Another fallacious argument is that the market for ivory in Asia – particularly China – is insatiable due to growing affluence. This was purportedly ignited by a large “one-off” ivory sale <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2016.1201378">conducted by CITES in 2008</a>. This demand, the argument goes, has the potential to wipe out African elephant populations by 2020.</p>
<p>This is just drama. Demand is in flux and is sensitive to prices. And the role of affluence must be questioned since incomes in Asian consumer countries have been increasing since well <a href="http://www.tradingeconomics.%20com/china/gdp-per-capita-ppp">before 2000</a>. It’s not possible to reconcile the assertion that affluence is synonymous with insatiable demand.</p>
<p>For many, the spectre of laundering in sufficient quantity to pose a significant threat is reason enough not to pursue legal trade and, indeed, to shut down all trade – even in extinct, look-alike species. In excess of 2400 metric tons of raw ivory left Africa between 2002 – 2014 and, of this, China’s 5-6 tonnes/year is a minor amount. Illegal traders do not need a legal market to launder ivory: their established trade conduits continue to work, as always.</p>
<h2>Abject failure</h2>
<p>Everyone agrees that the illegal ivory trade continues despite the international trade ban. It has been an abject failure. CITES has had 27 years to evaluate the experiment and, far from being part of the solution to illegal elephant killing in Africa, the ban must be seen as part of the problem.</p>
<p>Some posit that a legal trade in ivory cannot work with the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25103555">corruption in Africa</a>. But they fail to consider that the ban has created fertile conditions for corruption. Indeed, officials and governments across the continent who declared the trade of ivory illegal have themselves been engaged in it. It made smuggling easy, according to popular <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2001/naipaul-bio.html">writer V. S. Naipaul</a>.</p>
<p>As he has done before, Naipaul touches a nerve. Africa today has no need for yet another spurious declaration. Rather, it needs support for the creation of a robust management and marketing system for one of its most valuable products.</p>
<p><em>Kirsten Conrad and Rowan Martin featured as co-authors on this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65665/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marshall Murphree does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ivory trade is a very contentious issue and will be debated at CITES. It will revolve around maintaining or lifting the ban on trade. But the human element is likely to be ignored.Marshall Murphree, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Centre of Applied Social Sciences, University of ZimbabweLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/655102016-09-18T16:43:32Z2016-09-18T16:43:32ZExplainer: what is CITES and why should we care?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138038/original/image-20160916-6342-uiilmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">CITES has become the premier multilateral arrangement to tackle illegal wildlife trafficking.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ross Harvey</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora <a href="http://cites.org/">(CITES)</a> is an international regulatory treaty between 182 member states. It was formed in 1973 and regulates the international trade in over 35,000 wild species of plants and animals.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://cites.org/cop17">17th Conference</a> of the Parties to CITES (CoP17) will be hosted by South Africa running from 24 September to 5 October.</p>
<p>The focus of the convention is not solely on the protection of species. It also promotes controlled trade that is not detrimental to the sustainability of wild species. It has become the best-known conservation convention in the world.</p>
<p>Illegal wildlife trafficking is a major global problem and CITES is the premier multilateral arrangement to address the problem. The upcoming conference is therefore crucial for advancing human and environmental welfare. </p>
<h2>The nature and size of the problem</h2>
<p>A recent United Nations <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/World_Wildlife_Crime_Report_2016_final.pdf">report</a> states that the trafficking of wildlife is both a specialised area of organized crime and a significant threat to many plant and animal species. </p>
<p>For instance, there has been an alarming <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/World_Wildlife_Crime_Report_2016_final.pdf">85% increase</a> in the number of African rhinos poached since 2009. There are <a href="https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino_info/rhino_population_figures">only</a> about 20,000 white rhinos left, and fewer than 6,000 black rhinos. </p>
<p>And the latest <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/2354">Great Elephant Census</a> reveals that there are only about 375,000 savannah elephants remaining in Africa. Populations are currently shrinking by 8% per across the continent, primarily due to poaching. </p>
<p>Katarzyna Nowak, research associate in Zoology and Entomology at the University of the Free State, <a href="http://www.saiia.org.za/policy-insights/1092-cites-alone-cannot-combat-illegal-wildlife-trade/file">notes</a> that illegal wildlife trade deprives nations of their biodiversity, income opportunities and natural heritage and capital. </p>
<p>A 2015 paper in an Oxford journal <a href="http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/07/25/biosci.biw092">states</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most mammalian megafauna face dramatic range contractions and population declines… 60% of the world’s largest herbivores are classified as threatened with extinction on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition to poaching and trafficking, <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/4/e1400103">habitat contraction and fragmentation</a> threaten species survival. Livestock encroachment into wildlife habitats, land-use change and armed conflict combine to account for contraction. Fragmentation also threatens large migratory species, as smaller pockets of protected areas often cannot support sustainable populations of large herbivores and carnivores. </p>
<p>CITES can therefore only deal with one dimension of a much broader problem. But the more effective it becomes at dealing with trafficking, the more traction is likely to be gained in tackling the others.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138078/original/image-20160916-10847-1p8bv6l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Range contractions overtime for three iconic species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/4/e1400103.full">G Kerley Science Advances</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How does CITES work?</h2>
<p>The convention works primarily through a system of classification and licensing. Wild species are categorised in Appendices I to III. This often reflects species’ threat status on the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org">Red List of the IUCN</a>, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species first created in 1964. </p>
<p>Appendix I prohibits trade in species classified as highly endangered. Appendix II allows trade under very specific conditions. This requires exporting countries obtain a permit, but not the importing country. Appendix III species require only a certificate of origin to be traded. </p>
<p>National CITES management authorities may issue permits once scientific authorities show <a href="https://cites.org/eng/prog/ndf/index.php">non-detriment findings</a>. In other words, scientific evidence must demonstrate that species sustainability will not be adversely affected by trade. Where data is lacking, the precautionary principle applies.</p>
<p>For instance, elephants are protected under Appendix I and II because of the geographically differentiated threats facing different populations. Either way, if countries cannot demonstrate that the trade in ivory will not result in species decline, they will not be allowed to trade. </p>
<p>Part of the difficulty of allowing the occasional sale of ivory is that sufficient, reliable data on how markets may respond is not available. A vast volume of ivory is sold illegally, and so scientists and statisticians <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0076539">cannot get good data</a> to establish whether one-off sales of ivory exacerbate demand for ivory, or what kind of impact sales may have on speculative activity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138079/original/image-20160916-10813-11rlxjn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=842&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proximate threats faced by herbivores globally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/4/e1400103.full">Science Advances</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>CITES challenges</h2>
<p>Estimates from <a href="https://cites.org/eng/prog/etis/index.php">seizure data</a> to make inferences about market dynamics is risky. The precautionary principle suggests that no trade in ivory should be allowed, given the <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/2354.pdf">current rates of elephant slaughter</a> across central and east Africa, even though some southern populations are apparently not at risk of decline.</p>
<p>In technical terms, there is an added difficulty of what is called the split-listing problem. Here, some elephants are listed on Appendix II - now the largest volume - and all others are listed on Appendix I. Appendix II-listed elephants were subjected to a moratorium on future trade after the 2008 one-off sale. This is due to expire in 2017, and South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe have submitted <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/WorkingDocs/E-CoP17-84-03.pdf">a proposal</a> to be allowed to sell their naturally accruing ivory again. </p>
<p>Another difficulty with migratory species is establishing which member state the elephants actually belong to. If an elephant wakes up in Zimbabwe and goes to sleep in Botswana, whose elephant is she? The upcoming conference will have to deal with these kinds of questions.</p>
<p>The convention also requires that traded species be clearly marked and have legitimate certificates of origin. Seizures of specimens are not allowed when permits are invalid, fraudulent or dubious. Unfortunately, trafficking syndicates are particularly adept at circumventing these measures by forging permits or laundering wild-caught species through captive-breeding facilities.</p>
<p>The secretariat may recommend trade suspension where countries fail to comply with CITES provisions. <a href="https://cites.org/eng/resources/ref/suspend.php">Trade suspensions</a> were handed to 27 countries at the recent 66th meeting of the CITES standing committee, 16 of them in Africa. For example, countries that failed to submit <a href="https://cites.org/eng/news/pr/african_elephants_still_in_decline_due_to_high_levels_of_poaching_03032016">National Ivory Action Plans</a> were issued with suspensions.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.unep-wcmc.org/">The World Conservation Monitoring Centre</a>, a specialist arm of the UN Environment Programme, manages the CITES trade database and evaluates whether parties are effective at enforcing recommended suspensions.</p>
<h2>Will CITES succeed at reducing trafficking?</h2>
<p>The convention faces a tremendously difficult task. It was initially designed to regulate trade, not to defeat illegal wildlife trafficking. The convention in itself is relatively powerless to defeat powerful, well-organised transnational crime syndicates. But working in collaboration with other multilateral agencies it can ensure greater success in regulating trade in species as well as protecting irreplaceable biodiversity. </p>
<p>Many countries do not have the capacity to adapt their national laws to enforce CITES provisions and recommendations. For instance, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is racked by internal armed conflict and therefore lacks the capacity to do so. But enforcement is crucial to ensuring the convention’s future efficacy. </p>
<p>Countries with capacity should help those without. Harmonisation of legislation, and equally strong penalties between countries, is also a prerequisite for success. </p>
<p>The more countries start to see that wildlife conservation is not the preserve of a wealthy few or some random single-issue lobby group, but rather integral to the survival of humanity, the more likely CITES is to gain real policy efficacy.</p>
<h2>Why should you care?</h2>
<p>CITES is a crucial instrument for ensuring that species are not traded in a way that threatens their survival. If, for instance, the world wants to secure a future with elephants, member states <a href="http://www.saiia.org.za/occasional-papers/preserving-the-african-elephant-for-future-generations">would do well</a> to shut down all domestic ivory trade, and to put all stockpiles beyond commercial use. The <a href="http://www.elephantprotectioninitiative.org">Elephant Protection Initiative</a>, for instance, calls on members to do this. It provides an excellent example of states adopting policies that complement CITES regulations. </p>
<p>Elephants and other charismatic species are important to conserve not just because they have inherent value, but also because they play a key role in ensuring the ecological integrity of their migratory habitats. </p>
<p>These habitats – wilderness landscapes - not only preserve wildlife species, but also operate as invaluable carbon sinks. This shows us that properly regulating trade in wild fauna and flora is one crucial component of addressing other major challenges like climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65510/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Harvey works for the Governance of Africa's Resources Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs. The programme is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The programme is also currently running a research project on elephant conservation and ivory consumption that is funded by Stop Ivory. </span></em></p>The focus of CITES is not solely on the protection of species. It also promotes controlled trade that is not detrimental to the sustainability of wild species.Ross Harvey, Senior Researcher in Natural Resource Governance (Africa), South African Institute of International AffairsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.