The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, came into force 50 years ago and remains one of the most effective international conservation agreements. It has teeth, enforcement mechanisms, and almost all countries in the world are signatories.
Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), Ezuz, Israel. Credit: מינוזיגMinoZig, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
CITES aims to manage international trade in species to ensure that trade is sustainable and legal. It allows international trade in those species for which it is appropriate, and it manages—or bans—trade for which it is a significant threat. It works by listing species on its Appendices: Appendix II species for which international trade is allowed, but monitored and controlled to ensure that it is legal and sustainable; and Appendix I for which trade is only allowed for scientific and conservation purposes (but international commercial trade is prohibited).
When CITES first entered into force in 1975, animal species were listed on the Appendices for a wide diversity of reasons: as pets (e.g., all primates, all birds of paradise); as furs or skins (e.g., big cats, crocodilians); for their meat and oils (e.g., whales, manatees); and for their parts, such as teeth, horns, tusks, and feathers.
Galápagos marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) basking on lava rock, Galápagos Islands. Credit: RAF-YYC from Calgary, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
For the last Conference of the Parties (CoP19), and the upcoming one (CoP20), that diversity of reasons for new listings has greatly narrowed due to the detrimental impact that the wildlife pet trade is having on an ever-increasing number of species. This includes large-scale markets for household pets, specialised markets for animals’ songs or other species-specific attributes, and high-end markets for rare and unusual species sought by collectors who pay very high prices for the rarest of the rare.
At CoP19 held in Panama City in 2022, all seven of the terrestrial species uplisted to to Appendix I, and all 248 listed on Appendix II for the first time, were species threatened by the pet trade.
This trend continues at CoP20, to be held in Samarkand later this month. Of the 11 terrestrial species proposed for uplisting to Appendix I, eight are partly or wholly due to their being in demand for the pet trade, spanning taxa from primates (the golden-bellied mangabey from DRC) and birds (the great-billed seed finch from the Amazon, in demand as a songbird), to two species of lizards from Latin America and the Caribbean, two snakes from Ethiopia, and one tortoise from west Africa.
Of the 28 terrestrial species proposed for listing on Appendix II, 15 are due to their being traded unsustainably for the pet trade, including the delicate Dorcas gazelle from North Africa, two species of sloth from south and central America, and two species of gecko from Australia. Hence, the pet trade is a threat to a wide variety of taxa, coming from multiple geographies.
Of notable concern are endemic species; those found in only a limited geographical area, often within one country. Ecuador has never legally exported any of its Galapagos land or marine iguanas. Ethiopia has never legally exported either of its mountain adders, or Australia its two geckos that are endemic to Queensland. All of these species are being proposed for listing at CoP 20 since a significant trade in all of them exists, allegedly from captive bred animals outside their native country.
Great-billed seed finch (Sporophila maximiliani). Credit: Hector Bottai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In all cases, the founder stocks for those captive animals must have been obtained by smuggling animals illegally out of their native country. At least in the case of the Ethiopian adders, that almost certainly continues today since one of the species is extremely difficult to maintain and breed in captivity.
Listing such species on CITES means that all CITES Parties agree to help countries to protect their vulnerable endemic species. Even if someone smuggles an animal out of its native country successfully, they are not scot-free. They can be prosecuted by any other CITES member country in which they arrive. Hence, listing such species on CITES is especially critical.
Including increasing numbers of species threatened by the pet trade on CITES appendices is clearly essential now to ensure their conservation in the wild with their multiple aesthetic, ecological and cultural roles.
Golden bellied mangabey (Cercocebus chrysogaster) in the wild. Credit: Matthew Stritch, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In the long-term, however, it is not a sustainable solution since enforcement of CITES by the world’s national governments becomes ever-more challenging as increasing numbers of species are listed. Equally essential moving forwards is a change in societal attitudes in the desire to keep the beautiful and the rare in our homes, rather than letting them thrive in the wild.