Scientists Call on Bush Administration to Reverse Policy Expanding Imports of Endangered Species
More than 350 Prominent Scientists, Including Jane Goodall, George Schaller, and E.O. Wilson Question Science Behind Administration Policy
(03/08/2004) - Washington, DC – Hundreds of scientists from around the world today called on the Bush administration to reverse a proposal to expand the importation of endangered animals and their body parts. After two decades of bipartisan support for strict limits on global commerce in endangered species, the White House is proposing to allow the importation of endangered animals and body parts based on highly dubious claims of the conservation benefits stemming from increased trade. Renowned scientist Jane Goodall and esteemed conservationists Dr. Edward O. Wilson and George Schaller, were among the 358 signers of today’s letter, which questions both the structure and science behind the President’s policy. Biologist and TV host Jeff Corwin also signed the letter, which comes on the heels of a devastating report from the Union of Concerned Scientists, which criticized the Bush administration’s distortion of science for policy gain. <?php /*Read the letter. */???>“As currently crafted, the [Bush administration] proposal poses a significant threat to the very species it is designed to benefit. For too many of these species, this new threat could mean the difference between survival and extinction,” says the letter.
Specifically, the letter questions the program’s complete lack of enforcement standards as well as its failure to account for the illegal trade and poaching that invariably accompanies increased legal trade in endangered animals.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed to allow imports of endangered species … in the name of conservation without defining any standards by which proposed conservation programs will be evaluated. Nor has FWS identified the mechanisms through which it would monitor the implementation and outcomes of such programs on an ongoing basis,” says the letter.
The letter questions the overall effectiveness of “sustainable use” programs that seek to raise funds for conservation efforts by creating a market for endangered creatures, as the proposal suggests. The scientists cite many “unanticipated and sometimes catastrophic” impacts from such programs, including the devastation increased hunting can cause in breeding populations as large males, the prime target for hunters, are taken. The scientists also expressed concern about the effect of increased hunting in areas adjacent to protected lands, which has been shown to draw endangered animals out of protected zones and into areas where they may be killed.
“The Bush administration claims that sustainable use programs can benefit conservation efforts, but in reality they pose a threat to endangered species,” said Jeff Corwin, host of Emmy-nominated Jeff Corwin Experience on TV’s Animal Planet. “These creatures are hanging on by a thread. Without credible enforcement and verification mechanisms, sustainable use programs could easily drive them to extinction.”
The scientist letter concludes with the following statement: “It is our shared view that opening the door to commercial imports of endangered species without fully defining these parameters will put the hundreds of species potentially affected by this rule at serious risk. We do not believe such risks are acceptable for species already on the brink of extinction.”
The Bush administration first proposed this policy last fall. As the comment period came to a close in November, several members of Congress requested an extension so the policy could be further evaluated. On February 23, 2004 , the Fish and Wildlife Service reopened the comment period on the proposed rule, but did not make any substantive changes to the policy. The shortened comment period closes March 9, 2004 .
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