US, EU’s lack of support for elephant trade ban catches Botswana off guard
Botswana Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama said he was surprised that the US and EU decided on Monday not to support a proposal to list all African elephants on a commercial trade ban list.A co-proposal by 13 counties to list the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to Appendix I failed to get a two-third majority at the 17th Conference of the Parties to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). All other elephants in Africa are listed on Appendix I.READ THIS: Legal trade in rhino horn proposal bites the dust at Cites meetingThe move was fiercely opposed by SA, Namibia and Zimbabwe for not meeting the scientific requirements of Cites but Botswana came out in support of the proposal, to applause of delegates. Botswana hosts the world’s largest population of elephants.Currently the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia, SA and Zimbabwe are all listed on Appendix II of Cites, ...
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