Exploring the Global Treaty Regulating Wildlife Sales
This article looks at the 50-year-old global treaty regulating wildlife sales, including live elephants, exotic pets, plants, and more. It also explains how readers can help vulnerable species.
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National Geographic
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Today’s #WorldWildlifeDay and the b-day 🎂 of the 50-year-old global treaty regulating wildlife sales.
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023
I’m reporter @Dina_Maron, here to talk int’l sales of live elephants, exotic pets, plants, and more. And to tell you how you can help vulnerable species 🐘. THREAD/: pic.twitter.com/A3P9KZul4N -
This #WorldWildlifeDay let’s start with a quick 101 on the treaty by Wildlife Watch colleague @rfobar, detailing everything you’d want to know, including that it’s known as CITES [pronounced SIGH-teez] https://t.co/Rz3WgTQUJ6
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
Most people think ivory when talking about wildlife crime, right? But CITES regulates more than 38,000(!) species—all to keep them from going extinct. Even a couple species of LEECHES are included. Because, yes, leech smuggling is apparently a thing https://t.co/oicGTQSKPb
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
Sometimes these essential protections, which must be approved at meetings of 180+ countries, come later than they should. Like for pangolins, which are now among the world’s most trafficked mammals https://t.co/jnPqLtS04c pic.twitter.com/gC0tAmkeve
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
And gaps in enforcement can leave even officially protected species vulnerable, say with illegal fishing of totoaba (a huge fish) and the associated trade of its swim bladders https://t.co/UqaZZK8fCJ pic.twitter.com/8OlPRWBItJ
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
Demand is a weird thing. Sometimes when a novel animal or plant is described in science, buyers rush to get it—further reducing its numbers—as with this tiny Caribbean gecko. Fortunately, this lizard was eventually CITES-listed with a global trade ban https://t.co/YzP3ZTfkCj
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
The last big CITES meeting was this past November. I was there, in Panama, with @rfobar, and we wrote about the meeting’s key takeaways https://t.co/q1RA2QUJtH
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
What happens when countries continue to trade in restricted items? The biggest punishment: int'l trade sanctions that prevent the country from trading in ANY of its wildlife products with the other 180+ countries that have signed the treaty https://t.co/PzJYXSKN8Q
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
Thanks for reading along! How can you help the at-risk species that we are celebrating on #WWD2023 (and every day)? Show them some love by raising awareness about them! Don’t buy endangered or threatened animals and be a responsible wildlife tourist! https://t.co/9Ktjrv3Cqh
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023 -
Also, you can contribute to conservation and animal welfare causes you care about! One way is by supporting our investigative reporting project that focuses on wildlife crime and exploitation—Wildlife Watch! https://t.co/4AT7gcuquH
— National Geographic (@NatGeo) March 3, 2023