COVID-19 Highlights the Need for More Effective Wildlife Trade Legislation

Borzée, Amaël; McNeely, Jeffrey A.; Magellan, Kit; Miller, Jennifer R. B.; Porter, Lindsay; Dutta, Trishna; Krishnakumar, P. K.; Sharma, Sandeep; Shahabuddin, Ghazala; Aprilinayati, Fikty; Ryan, Gail; Hughes, Alice C.; Mutalib, Aini Hasanah Abd; Wahab, Ahmad Zafir Abdul; Bista, Damber; Chavanich, Suchana; Chong, Ju Lian; Gale, George; Ghaffari, Hanyeh; Ghimirey, Yadav; Kumaran, Jayaraj Vijaya; Khatiwada, Ambika Prasad; Khatiwada, Monsoon; Krishna, Murali C.; Lwin, Ngwe; Paudel, Prakash Kumar; Sadykova, Chinara; Savini, Tommaso; Shrestha, Bharat Babu; Strine, Colin Thomas; Sutthacheep, Makamas; Wong, Ee Phin; Yeemin, Thamasak; Zahirudin, Natasha Zulaika; Zhang, Li

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2020.10.001

Cited by 64 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In both the scientific community and the popular media, there are calls for greater controls on exotic pet trading and keeping in response to the myriad of problems involved [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. However, the form that these controls should take is undetermined.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wildlife trade has been identified as the most likely pathway for SARS-Cov-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic [ 73 ]. Tackling the legal and illegal trade in wild animals for pets or consumption has been identified as high priority in terms of preventing future disease outbreaks [ 1 , 74 ]. It is estimated that 75% of emerging infectious diseases are of wild animal origin [ 75 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Turning Negatives into Positives for Pet Trading and Keeping: A Review of Positive Lists

Toland¹,

Bando²,

Hamers

et al. 2020

Animals

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The trading and keeping of exotic pets are associated with animal welfare, conservation, environmental protection, agricultural animal health, and public health concerns and present serious regulatory challenges to legislators and enforcers. Most legislation concerning exotic pet trading and keeping involves restricting or banning problematic species, a practice known as “negative listing”. However, an alternative approach adopted by some governments permits only the keeping of animals that meet certain scientifically proven criteria as suitable in respect of species, environmental, and public health and safety protections. We conducted an evaluation of positive lists for the regulation of pet trading and keeping within the context of the more prevalent system of restricting or prohibiting species via negative lists. Our examination of international, national, and regional regulations in Europe, the United States, and Canada found that criteria used for the development of both negative and positive lists were inconsistent or non-specific. Our online surveys of governments received limited responses, although telephone interviews with officials from governments either considering or developing positive lists provided useful insights into their attitudes and motivations towards adopting positive lists. We discuss key issues raised by civil servants including perceived advantages of positive lists and anticipated challenges when developing lists of suitable species. In addition, we compare functions of negative and positive lists, and recommend key principles that we hope will be helpful to governments concerning development and implementation of regulations based on positive lists.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Turning Negatives into Positives for Pet Trading and Keeping: A Review of Positive Lists

Toland¹,

Bando²,

Hamers

et al. 2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Corruption is believed to be one of the key drivers of illegal trafficking and trade in wildlife (Coetzee, 2012;Smith et al, 2015). While the trade in protected species is highly regulated under international law, the world market in illegal wildlife products continues to grow and thrive (Borzée et al, 2020;Evans et al, 2020;You, 2020). Nonetheless, addressing corruption and organized crime is critical in combating international wildlife trade.…”

Section: Illegal Wildlife Tradementioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of threats, strategies, and opportunities for African rhinoceros conservation

Chanyandura

Muposhi

Gandiwa

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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The complexity and magnitude of threats to black ( Diceros bicornis ) and white ( Ceratotherium simum ) rhinoceros conservation in Africa have triggered global concerns and actions. In this study, we analyzed (i) threats to rhinoceros conservation including external shocks, (ii) historical rhinoceros conservation strategies in Zimbabwe and Africa, more broadly, and (iii) opportunities for enhanced rhinoceros conservation in Zimbabwe and Africa. A literature search from 1975 to 2020 was carried out using a predefined search protocol, involving a number of filters based on a set of keywords to balance search sensitivity with specificity. A total of 193 articles, which were most relevant to key themes on rhinoceros conservation, were used in this study. The common threats to rhinoceros conservation identified in this paper include poaching, habitat fragmentation and loss, international trade in illegal rhino products, and external shocks such as global financial recessions and pandemics. Cascading effects emanating from these threats include small and isolated populations, which are prone to genetic, demographic, and environmental uncertainties. Rhinoceros conservation strategies being implemented include education and awareness campaigns, better equipped and more antipoaching efforts, use of innovative systems and technologies, dehorning, and enhancing safety nets, and livelihoods of local communities. Opportunities for rhinoceros conservation vary across the spatial scale, and these include (a) a well‐coordinated stakeholder and community involvement, (b) strategic meta‐population management, (c) enhancing law enforcement initiatives through incorporating real‐time surveillance technologies and intruder detection sensor networks for crime detection, (d) scaling up demand reduction awareness campaigns, and (e) developing more certified wildlife crime and forensic laboratories, and information repository for international corporation.

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“…On the one hand, the abatement in human activities has led to a reduction in ambient pollution (Muhammed et al, 2020;Venter et al, 2020) and CO 2 -emissions (Le Quéré et al, 2020). Various species have benefitted (Manenti et al, 2020) and the closure of wet markets has led to reduced hunting pressure on wildlife (Borzée et al, 2020). On the other hand, overall funding for conservation agencies has decreased, their operations have been restricted (e.g., anti-poaching, management of wildlife and invasive species; Bates et al, 2020;Buckley, 2020) and human threats to nature elevated (Lindsey et al, 2020), e.g., by a decrease in wildlife-based tourism (Lindsey et al, 2020), and increased pressure on natural resources in absence of other sources of income (Buckley, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation Research in Times of COVID-19 – The Rescue of the Northern White Rhino

Hildebrandt

Holtze

Biasetti

et al. 2021

J. Appl. Anim. Ethics Res.

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COVID-19 has changed the world at unprecedented pace. The measures imposed by governments across the globe for containing the pandemic have severely affected all facets of economy and society, including scientific progress. Сonservation research has not been exempt from these negative effects, which we here summarize for the BioRescue project, aiming at saving the northern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni), an important Central African keystone species, of which only two female individuals are left. The development of advanced assisted reproduction and stem-cell technologies to achieve this goal involves experts across five continents. Maintaining international collaborations under conditions of national shut-down and travel restrictions poses major challenges. The associated ethical implications and consequences are particularly troublesome when it comes to research directed at protecting biological diversity – all the more in the light of increasing evidence that biodiversity and intact ecological habitats might limit the spread of novel pathogens.

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COVID-19 Highlights the Need for More Effective Wildlife Trade Legislation

Cited by 64 publications

References 15 publications

Turning Negatives into Positives for Pet Trading and Keeping: A Review of Positive Lists

Turning Negatives into Positives for Pet Trading and Keeping: A Review of Positive Lists

An analysis of threats, strategies, and opportunities for African rhinoceros conservation

Conservation Research in Times of COVID-19 – The Rescue of the Northern White Rhino

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