Background

Commercial Importing of Foreign Endangered Species is Not the Way to Save them

For 30 years, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has prohibited the commercial import of foreign endangered species into the US, except for cases of clear scientific and conservation purposes, such as in the captive breeding of a species to be reintroduced in the wild.

However, in August 2003, the Bush administration tried to change all that when the FWS published a draft policy that would dramatically alter the policy governing the killing, capturing, and importation of more than 500 endangered species around the world.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed issuing permits that allow for the importation of endangered animals and their body parts as long as the capture and killings of these animals provide some conservation benefits. The idea behind this proposal is that by allowing previously illegal trade in endangered species to resume, income can be generated by the sale of these species and in turn, can be used to protect the species themselves.

However, this proposal contains no standards to verify that the taking of an endangered species will actually yield a conservation benefit.

In addition, it ignores the fact that previous legalization of endangered species trading has almost always been followed by an increase in illegal trade and poaching. For example, resumption of a legal ivory trade in southern Africa is now being cited as the cause of increased elephant poaching throughout Africa and parts of Asia. Too often, these programs, whether by poor design, lack of funding, or lack of oversight, favor use over sustainability and result in harm, not protection for the species.

The bottom line is that this proposal is inconsistent with both the letter and the spirit of the Endangered Species Act. After years of international collaboration to protect our endangered wildlife, it makes no sense now to promote the trade and killing of animals on the brink extinction in a misguided and mistaken effort to save them.

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