New trade protections put in place for endangered song birds and sharks

The wildlife trade industry is estimated to be worth £8 billion per year, and is relied upon by many people for their livelihoods. However, due to considerable international trading, numerous species have been pushed to the brink of extinction. Now crucial trade protections have been put in place to prevent several species of shark, songbird and amphibian being traded into extinction.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which protects species against unsustainable trade was held in Panama this November. Members of CITES considered 52 proposals to increase or decrease protections of a range of species.

Just under 50% of the 52 proposals focused on the exotic pet trade. The scope of the exotic pets trade is vast. Capturing frogs, snakes, lizards and turtles fuelled by demand in Europe, the USA and Asia; and elephants for ivory.

According to the IUCN Red List, 41% of amphibian species are threatened with extinction. Successes at CITES include the enhanced protection of the transparent glass frog; a ban on cross-border trade in the Australian pygmy bluetongue lizards; and a ban in the trade of red-crowned roof turtles, found in both northern India and Bangladesh.

The song-bird trade in Indonesia has also been detrimental to species survival. Both straw-headed bulbul birds and white-rumped shama have been severely impacted, with straw-headed bulbul bird numbers declining by 80% in the last 15 years. Both were given enhanced protection by CITES, with a complete ban on trading of straw-headed bulbul.

Protections were granted for over 90 species of shark, including bull sharks and tiger sharks. A major cause of shark decline has been through fisheries – taking the lives of 100 million sharks per year. Many shark species had never had any protections before, so many are hopeful that these new protections will ensure species have time to recover from exploitation.  

“These species are threatened by the unsustainable and unregulated fisheries that supply the international trade in their meat and fins, which has driven extensive population declines,” said Rebecca Regnery, the senior director for wildlife at Humane Society International.

Whilst many proposals at CITES saw success, some were sadly rejected. The trading of hippo teeth (known to be an alternative to the illegal ivory trade) has long been debated, with many countries seeking to a ban on trade at CITES. Unfortunately, the proposed ban was not passed, with those opposing the ban arguing that wildlife trade is not implicated in hippo population declines.

Hopefully, the approval of many of these protections now placed on frequently traded species will revive those suffering the worst and bring them back from the brink of extinction.