Ask CITES to tighten wildlife trading laws to save rhinos from extinction
UPDATE (02/22): The following response has been sent from the CITES office -
"Thank you very much for your message and the accompanying petition to the CITES Secretariat.
The current high levels of illegal trade in CITES listed species is of great concern to the CITES Secretariat and a number of measures to effectively combat the increasingly organized nature of wildlife crime will be discussed as CITES CoP16.
Great
emphasis will be placed on the increased use of specialized
investigation techniques to combat wildlife crime, the use of wildlife
forensics and the implementation of anti-money laundering and asset
recovery legislation.
More information in this
regard can be found in the Secretariat's enforcement related documents
that were prepared for CoP16, which can be accessed through our website
at: www.cites.org"
At the present time, with the CITES meeting looming close at hand, this is the best response that we will be able to obtain. Please check news on CoP16 at Bangkok to find out if any progress has been made in protections for this critically endangered species. If not, there will be opportunities for further actions before the next CITES meeting.
This petition will now be closed. Thank you for your support. It is greatly appreciated.
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UPDATE (02/19): The petition has been forwarded to CITES. We are awaiting the results of the upcoming CoP16 meeting, which will end on March 14th. This petition will not be closed until a positive conclusion has been reached--please check back for updates.
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News has come to light that owners of rhino horn stockpiles may want the species to be completely annihilated, as they could then profit greatly on their inventory.
Economists have requested that CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) consider changing wildlife trading laws to close the loophole that allows traders to profit if a species becomes extinct.
http://www.iol.co.za/mercury/some-may-want-rhinos-to-die-out-1.1457219#.URAH0Gf4bbr
Please sign this message to CITES to emphasize the urgent need to prevent this horrific scenario while there is still time left.