CITES is an acronym for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species - a United Nations treaty set up to ensure that the international trade in wild animals (fauna) and plants (flora) does not threaten their survival in the wild. CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected species to certain controls. These require that all import or export of species covered by the Convention has to be authorized through a licensing system.
Species which are threatened or endangered may be listed on one of three appendices, which offer varying degrees of protection.
Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction.
Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional
and carefully controlled circumstances.
Appendix II includes species not necessarily threatened with extinction,
but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible
with their survival.
Appendix III contains species that are protected in at least one country,
which has asked other CITES Parties for assistance in controlling the trade.
A number of Namibian Carnivore species are listed on CITES.....
Cheetah and Leopard are listed in Appendix I, and African Lions and Caracal are listed in Appendix II
CITES is needed to avoid the over utilisation of species for trade. The best known examples are Elephant and Rhinoceros - Elephants were hunted and killed for their ivory until CITES banned the trade. Rhino horn is used in Chinese medicine and this resulted in a dramatic reduction in the rhino population.
By prohibiting or severely limiting international trade in a species (including parts from that species), CITES aims to remove the market for products made from for instance Rhino horn. The theory is that if you can stop the sale of products then that removes the incentive for people to kill an animal - why go to the trouble of hunting and killing a Rhino for its horn if the horn cannot be sold and becomes effectively worthless. Listing a species on one of the CITES appendices does not stop animals being killed but it does make it a lot less likely that they will be killed for commercial reasons. This means that while the Leopard is listed on appendix 1, leopards can still be shot (depending on the laws in individual countries) if it is killing people or livestock. Some countries have quotas for certain species which allows limited numbers to be shot as trophies or exported live e.g. to Zoos.
In practice while CITES can make trade in certain species illegal, it is not possible to prevent all illegal trade - with rhino horn and other items being extremely valuable there is a lot of money involved in the poaching and smuggling of CITES listed species, which makes it harder to stop the poaching and smuggling.
There are several markets for illegal animal products.
The Chiru or Tibetan Antelope has suffered huge population declines with an estimated 90% of the population having been wiped out over the past 100 years so their wool can be used to make scarves and shawls - Shahtoosh. The fine quality of the wool has made it a popular and expensive purchase but the women who purchase these items are contributing to the decline and possible extinction of the species.
Rhino horn is used in Yemen to make handles for the Jambia - a traditional dagger. In the far east, rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine to reduce fever, even though aspirin is more effective.
Tigers suffer badly from the Chinese traditional medicine industry
The CITES convention regulates the international trade in wildlife and wildlife products, but initially lacked the means to assess the impact of its decisions to allow or suspend trade in particular species (and/or their parts and derivatives), both generally and in respect of specific countries. At the 10th conference of the parties to CITES in 1997, a resolution was passed that a monitoring system be put in place across the entire range of the African and Asian elephants. It was intended that this system would assist the dialogue and facilitate decisions of CITES concerning the protected status of elephants by providing reliable information As a result of this resolution, the Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) group was set up.
The objectives of CITES MIKE are as follows...
Namibia has recognised the importance of wildlife and conservation since independence. Namibia was the first country in the world to incorporate the protection of the environment and sustainable utilization of wildlife into its constitution.
It is illegal for large carnivores to be captured in the wild and placed into captivity. This prevents the wild populations being threatened by people wanting to keep them as tourist attractions.
Until recently there were few limits on keeping large
carnivores in captivity. As a result many guest farms kept large
carnivores captive to attract tourists. many of these were held in poor
conditions or were not properly cared for. As a result, the government of
Namibia introduced regulations to control this and to make sure captive animals
were properly cared for.
All facilities holding large carnivores must be licensed by
the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET). The facilities are subject
to inspections by MET, and must meet a number of criteria. The main ones
are
The regulations define three minimum sizes for holding facilities (capture cages, temporary holding facilities, and permanent holding facilities). There are strict restrictions on how long large carnivores can be held in each type of facility - for capture cages the maximum time is one week, for temporary holding facilities it is 3 months, and for permanent holding facilities the large carnivores can be kept indefinitely subject to an annual renewal of the permit. The minimum size for a permanent holding facility is one hectare per large carnivore. There are also rules on the construction of the holding facilities - e.g. type and size of fences.
This is intended to stop the captive population increasing. Large carnivores born in captivity are not normally suitable for release into the wild.
This is for a number of reasons. Firstly a captive large carnivore may well be unable to fend for itself in the wild, as it is not used to hunting for food. Secondly, if the carnivore had human contact in captivity, it is likely to have lost its fear of humans and may become a threat to people.
This is for a number of reasons - it stops owners of large carnivores capturing new ones to replace any that die, and claiming it is still the original animal they are licensed to keep, and more importantly, it means if blood tests from the annual veterinary inspections identify one carnivore as having a health problem, it is essential to be able to relate the records to an individual examination. Captive large carnivores can be identified in a number of different ways - either by photographs of unique markings etc, a numbered collar or ear tag, or an implanted transponder.
It is essential to ensure the carnivores are properly immunised to prevent the spread of disease
This avoids risks of injury, particularly where tourists are involved. In the past, a number of guest farms allowed guests in to enclosures with large carnivores, and on at least one occasion, this resulted in injury to the tourist.
This ensures all the animals are in good health and are being properly cared for.
© Predator Conservation Trust.
