Species Proposals Working Documents
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August 2019 SPECIES PROPOSALS Pages 1-30 WORKING DOCUMENTS Pages 31-76 Dear Delegates and Colleagues: On behalf of the global family of Member Organizations of the Species Survival Network, I am pleased to share with you SSN’s Digest, our summary and analysis of the documents to be considered at the 18th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, here in Geneva, Switzerland. CoP18 promises to be a landmark meeting. Parties will debate, deliberate and decide on more than 160 documents, covering issues of crucial importance at a time when the world’s wild fauna and flora face unprecedented pressure from a human population that is 3 billion more than it was when CITES was enacted, 45 years ago. We believe that this Digest will provide Parties, as well the media and civil society, with easy access to the information and analysis they need, both to facilitate a well-informed debate, and to reach the best possible outcomes. We encourage Party representatives to take advantage of the provisions of CITES to do their utmost to protect wild species from the excesses of unsustainable trade, and to remember that when we improve the survival prospects of wild species we safeguard the welfare of the vulnerable human communities that depend on them. We urge Parties, too, to recognize that where live trade is involved, the welfare of every living individual must be a key priority. Together with all my SSN colleagues, I wish you every success and commend your efforts on behalf of the species we all seek to conserve. Will Travers OBE President, Species Survival Network SPECIES/PROPONENT/PROPOSALAnalysis of the ProposalsCURRENT STATUS OF SPECIES to Amend Appendices I andSSN II VIEW To be discussed at the 18th Conference of the Parties to CITES, Geneva, Switzerland, 17-28 August 2019 Prepared by the Species Survival Network Abbreviations used: RC=Resolution Conf. • CoP=Conference of the Parties • SC=Standing Committee • AC=Animals Committee PC=Plants Committee • References cited available upon request SPECIES/PROPONENT/PROPOSAL CURRENT STATUS OF SPECIES SSN VIEW Prop. 1 • Distribution: Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; proposal OPPOSE Heptner's markhor refers only to Tajikistan population. • Life history characteristics make this species highly vulnerable to over- Capra falconeri heptneri • Population: Subspecies not assessed by IUCN (2014); species, C. falco- utilization: average age at first birth 18-30 months, gestation 135-170 neri, Near Threatened (id.); C. f. heptneri: Afghanistan,10 observed in 2011; days, gives birth to 1-2 kids, lives up to 13 years. Tajikistan, 1,300 in one area and 8 in another; Turkmenistan, no recent popu- • Split-listing of species could give rise to enforcement problems and lation estimate but 303 in 2002; Uzbekistan, 313 in 2013; total population should be avoided (RC 9.24 (Rev. CoP17), Annex 3). estimated at 1,008 mature individuals in 2013 (IUCN 2014). • Threats: In Tajikistan, poaching for meat, skins, horns, illegal trophy Continues to meet criteria for Appendix I (RC 9.24 (Rev. CoP17)), hunting leading to low population of adult males, poor habitat quality due to Annex 1, paras. A and B): traded internationally . wild popu- fuel wood collection and intensive grazing. lation is small (<< 5000) . restricted area of distribution . • Trade: CITES trade data available only for C. falconeri; exports from occurrence at very few locations (majority of individuals in 2 Tajikistan (2007-2016): 8 trophies from wild source for hunting purposes. populations) . high vulnerability to intrinsic factors Tajikistan Transfer Tajikistan’s population from Appendix I to II Prop. 2 • Distribution: Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, SUPPORT Saiga antelope Uzbekistan; extirpated in China and Ukraine. Proposal relies on updated taxonomy recognizing only one saiga spe- Saiga tatarica • • Population: Critically Endangered (IUCN 2018); population has shown an cies (Saiga tatarica); CITES currently recognizes two species (S. tatarica observed and ongoing decline of over 80% over the last 10 years. and S. borealis, both Appendix II). Effect of proposal would be to include • Threats: Illegal hunting for horns and meat for national and interna- all saiga on Appendix I. tional trade; habitat loss; climatic events; disease. Horns are main target of • Despite voluntary bans or moratoria on hunting and international trade poaching, leading to skewed sex ratios, reproductive collapse, and popula- in all range States by 2015, international trade continues among con- tion decline. sumer non-range States, allowing the laundering of poached specimens. • Trade: Most commonly used horn products are bottled ‘fresh’ saiga water, • Singapore claims to have a large stockpile of horns (China is also shavings, bottled ‘supermarket’ saiga water and tablets; from 1995-2004, believed to have significant stockpiles, though volume is unknown); 87,449 kilograms of horn were exported to China, Singapore and Japan; in stockpiles could fuel demand. 2010-2014, 224 incidents of illegal hunting recorded in Kazakhstan, and 8,594 • High volumes of international trade in Singapore, China, Hong Kong horns were confiscated. Disease-related mortality event in 2015-16 resulted in SAR, Japan, and Malaysia. the deaths of more than two-thirds of the global population at that time. Continued Continued www.ssn.org 1 2 SPECIES/PROPONENT/PROPOSAL CURRENT STATUS OF SPECIES SSN VIEW Continued Continued Mongolia and USA Meets criteria for Appendix I (RC 9.24 (Rev. CoP17), Annex 1, Transfer from Appendix II to I para. C): traded internationally . significant population decline . fluctuations in population size . prone to large die-offs caused by disease . poached for horns and meat Prop. 3 • Distribution: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru; proposal for Argentina popu- NO OPINION Vicuña lation only. Vicugna vicugna • Population: Least Concern (IUCN 2018); minimum estimated number of vicuña present in the province of Salta in 2018 is 58,387 individuals. • Threats: Poaching for the international market. • Trade: Gross exports from Argentina, 2012-2017: ~4,695 kg fibres, ~8,510 kg hair. Argentina Transfer the population of the Province of Salta (Argentina) from Appendix I to II with annotation 1 Prop. 4 • Distribution: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru; proposal for Chile population SUPPORT Vicuña only. • Proposal recognizes administrative change in the name of the region in Vicugna vicugna • Population: Least Concern (IUCN 2018). Chile; it does not affect the scope of the listing. • Threats: Poaching for the international market. • Trade: Gross exports from Chile, 2012-2017: ~128 kg fibres; ~68 kg hair. Chile Continued SPECIES/PROPONENT/PROPOSAL CURRENT STATUS OF SPECIES SSN VIEW Continued Amend the name of the population of Chile from “population of Primera Region” to “populations of the region of Tarapaca and of the region of Arica and Parinacota” Prop. 5 • Distribution: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, SUPPORT Giraffe Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, • Giraffes used locally for traditional cultural purposes and bushmeat; Giraffa camelopardalis Zambia, Zimbabwe; extirpated in Eritrea, Guinea, Mauritania, Nigeria, bushmeat traded regionally; very large international trade for commer- Senegal; likely extirpated in Mali. cial purposes in bones used for carvings and gun and knife handles, skins used for numerous products (such as pillows); on average 374 • Population: Vulnerable (IUCN 2018); observed, past (and ongoing) giraffe trophies per annum are imported to the USA alone. population decline of 36-40% over 3 generations (30 years, 1985-2015); 1 population estimate is 68,293 mature individuals, declining; 5 of 9 sub- • Direct evidence of international trade in all giraffe subspecies, including species threatened: 2 Critically Endangered, 1 Endangered, 2 Vulnerable from countries where populations Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, decreasing and/or small. (id.); populations scattered and fragmented. • Threats: Habitat loss, civil unrest, poaching, ecological changes. • Proposal supported by the 32 African countries that are members of the African Elephant Coalition.2 • Trade: From 2006-2015, 39,516 giraffe specimens imported to USA, equivalent to at least 3,751 individual giraffes, with 99.7% of specimens from wild sources; most commonly imported items were bone carv- Meets criteria for Appendix II (RC 9.24 (Rev. CoP16), Annex ings, bones, trophies, skin pieces, bone pieces, skins and jewelry; legal 2a, para. B): high level of international trade . all subspecies Central African Republic, Chad, Kenya, hunting of giraffes occurs in parts of southern Africa. affected by international trade . trade exacerbates impact of Mali, Niger and Senegal other threats . low reproductive output (generation time 10 years, 15-month gestation period, typically one calf is born) Include in Appendix II Prop. 6 • Distribution: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, SUPPORT India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Small-clawed otter • Trade as pets is a growing threat; popular in pet trade due to small size; Taiwan, Province of China, Thailand, Viet Nam. Aonyx cinereus highest demand in Thailand, Japan, and Indonesia.4,5,6 • Population: Vulnerable (IUCN 2015); >30% decline over past 30 years • Much trade is online for live animals from the wild; captive-bred speci- on