*EPF209 10/05/2004
Text: Leopards, Rhinos Under Debate at Endangered Species Meeting
(U.S. supports Namibia and South African proposals) (860)

The United States is supporting proposals submitted by Namibia and South Africa to allow the export of small numbers of black rhinoceros.

The talks involving more than 160 nations are underway in Bangkok, Thailand at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES).

The black rhinoceros has been designated a protected species and subject to international controls on its trade since 1990. Namibia and South African officials now say the population is recovering and that a limited export of the rhinos for sport-hunting is justified.

In an Interior Department press released issued in Bangkok, the U.S. delegation also expressed support for other pending proposals by Namibia and South Africa to increase the export of sport-hunted leopards, said Craig Manson, assistant secretary of the interior and head of the U.S. delegation to CITES.

"We recognize the excellent work that the governments have carried out in managing their wildlife resources," said Manson, "and we are particularly pleased by Namibia's and South Africa's willingness to carry out regular monitoring on the status of the species through the gathering of information on individual leopards taken under the quota."

Both nations agreed to meet U.S. concerns on data collection and monitoring and the use of that information for management purposes.

The two proposals are among about 50 that CITES delegates will consider at the October 2-14 meeting.

More than 30 years after its 1973 adoption, CITES is considered among the most successful of the world's environmental agreements.

The text of the Interior Department press release follows:

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U.S. Department of the Interior
Bangkok, Thailand

October 4, 2004

United States Supports Proposals offered by Namibia and South Africa at CITES
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The parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) today agreed to recommend for adoption proposals to allow export of a small number of sport-hunted black rhinoceros and an increase in sport-hunted leopard export quotas from Namibia and South Africa. The United States supported these proposals.
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"Having met with both range states, we are assured that these proposals are part of a comprehensive long-term program to benefit the species," said Marshall Jones, Deputy Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. "We urged the South Africans to reduce their proposed quota of black rhinoceros from 10 to 5 and to delay hunting until April 2005 when that government's new regulations go into effect," Jones added. Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Craig Manson, head of the U.S. delegation, noted that the historic and current practice under the U.S. Endangered Species Act would not allow imports of sport-hunted black rhinoceros trophies into the U.S.
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The IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group has noted that the two proposals are based on the success of similar programs for limited sport hunting of white rhinos. There are now more black rhinos in Namibia and South Africa -- 2,530 -- than there were when the white rhino conservation program started in 1968 with a population of 1,800 individuals. The conservation value of species management such as this is demonstrated by the increase in white rhinos in South Africa to 8,000 today. Further, since 1990 the black rhino population in South Africa has increased at a rate of 6.7% per year.
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The black rhino proposals would allow for only 5 adult male black rhinoceros hunting trophies from each country and represent an annual take of less than one half of one percent (0.5%) of the estimated current population: 0.44% in Namibia and 0.42% in South Africa. In addition, the quota in Namibia and South Africa would apply only to surplus male rhinos, primarily post-reproductive or problem animals. Concerns were expressed regarding the effect these new programs might have on poaching and illegal trade, but the United States believes management controls are in place to ensure adequate enforcement.
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Earlier in the day, the parties agreed to recommend for adoption proposals to increase the export of sport-hunted leopards in Namibia and South Africa. "We recognize the excellent work that the governments have carried out in managing their wildlife resources," said Manson, "and we are particularly pleased by Namibia's and South Africa's willingness to carry out regular monitoring on the status of the species through the gathering of information on individual leopards taken under the quota." Both nations agreed to meet U.S. concerns on data collection and monitoring and the use of that information for management purposes.
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The 13th Conference of the Parties (COP13) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is meeting in Bangkok, Thailand from October 2 through October 14. CITES is the only international agreement specifically designed to control, monitor and regulate global trade in certain wild animals and plants that are or may become threatened with extinction due to commercial trade.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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