What happened with sharks, giraffe, saiga, rosewood, glass frogs, elephants and more? 

WCS welcomes Madagascar’s new commitment to halt the trafficking of rosewood species, as the country’s representatives announced at the CITES CoP18 this week.

A statement was released today by the Wildlife Conservation Society on the vital victory for shark and ray conservation at the world wildlife conference being held by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The Amazon, a fortress for life on Earth, is burning nearly twice as fast as last year. All parties must come together to stop the setting of these devastating fires.” – WCS Brazil Country Director Carlos Durigan

In summary: All three proposals for sharks and rays need to be adopted: Proposal 42: 2 mako shark species need to be placed on Appendix II (longfin and shortfin) Proposal 43: 6 giant guitarfish species need to be placed on Appendix II Proposal 44: 10 wedgefish species need to be placed on Appendix II So 18 species in all need to be placed on Appendix II at CITES CoP18. Learn the Facts WCS remains concerned that the majority of the global trade in both shark fins, and other products such as meat,...

Sharks and rays are one of the most endangered groups of animals on the planet.There are more than 1,000 species of sharks and rays living today.Approximately 100 species of sharks and rays are regularly traded for their fins and meat.Since 2013, CITES began to list regularly commercially traded species of sharks and rays under the convention’s appendices, mainly under CITES Appendix II, which is about sustainable trade and utilization.There are 18 species up for listing at CITES Cop 18 (a...

Government delegates attending CITES CoP18 (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora 18th Conference of the Parties) approved greater trade protections for all nine subspecies of giraffes.

A statement was released today by the Wildlife Conservation Society from CITES CoP18 concerning elephants and ivory.  Said Dr. Susan Lieberman, VP of International Policy for the Wildlife Conservation Society: “The decisions today by the Parties at CITES CoP18 mean it’s status quo for elephants: No international commercial ivory trade is permitted and that is what needs to happen. CITES Parties agreed not to open any ivory trade, and to further call on governments to close their domestic ivory markets."

A statement was issued by the Wildlife Conservation Society concerning the critically endangered saiga antelope staying on Appendix II but now with a zero quota, helping to ensure that international commercial trade will not contribute to further declines of the species and will help range states and other parties combat illegal trade.

The elephant news at CITES CoP18 in Geneva breaks on 8/22/19.