From the 3rd to the 14th of March, the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP) that form CITES was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Below is a summary of some of the major decisions that were made by governments representing 178 countries.
The illegal trade is now driven by demand from international markets such as the tourist entertainment industry, disreputable zoos and wealthy individuals who see ownership of an exotic pet as a status symbol.
This is an animal that can grow up to 6 feet long, can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, can dive to depths of nearly 4,000 feet and migrates more than 7,000 miles
The EEA reported that invasive species are “a growing pressure on the natural world which are extremely difficult to reverse.” Especially since ecosystems are already weakened by other man-made threats, such as pollution and climate change.
As well as scales, pangolins are also hunted for their meat, considered to be “delicious” by some, a pound of which can sell for hundreds of US dollars. Unborn pangolin foetuses are also eaten as a delicacy, often found in soups.
Scientists at Duke University reported that more than two-thirds of lions in Africa have disappeared in the last 50 years. Rapid human population growth, and all the threats to wildlife that this brings with it, has reduced both lion populations and the savannah in which they live.
Once this population was connected all along the mountain range, but now their population is fragmented. They are isolated from each other and, as a result, are vulnerable to the long-term risks of inbreeding, such as birth defects and infertility.
Last December, a group of intrepid Antarctic explorers located a colony of emperor penguins that had never been seen before by humans.
Earlier this month, a single Pacific bluefin tuna caught off Japan’s northeastern coast sold for whopping £1.09 million at a Tokyo fish market.
Traditional methods of deterring and punishing the professional poachers are clearly not working, so conservationists are now trying to fight them on a new front – economics.