A few examples of CITES harming wild populations are the orchids I mentioned,
and forgive me, I don't know the names of them. A better known case is the
Atelopus zeitiki Golden Frog of Panama. Right now, they only exist in capitivity
and were announced extinct within recent years.
The genus Atelopus, with 113 described and putative species, appears to be the most threatened clade of amphibians. At least 30 species appear to be extinct, having been missing from all known localities for at least 8 years. Only 52 of the surviving species have sufficient data with which to evaluate population trends; of these, 81% (42 of 52) have population sizes that have been reduced by at least half. Only 10 of the 52 species appear to have stable populations. Higher-elevation species (those living at least 1000 m asl) have been hit the worst, with 75% (21 of 28) having disappeared entirely. Chytridiomycosis is thought to be a primary factor in the decline and disappearance of species in this genus. Habitat loss has occurred within the ranges of many Atelopus species, but does not appear to be a major factor in the decline of most Atelopus species; 22 species declined despite occurring in protected areas. Many Atelopus species are local endemics, putting them at particular risk of extinction, with at least 26 species known only from a single population inhabiting a narrow altitudinal range (La Marca et al. 2005).
Atelopus zeteki is possibly extinct in the wild, with frogs having been removed to captive breeding facilities in 2006, to protect them against possible death from infection with Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). The BBC filmed these frogs courting, wrestling, and semaphoring in the wild shortly before removal. The amphibian chytrid fungus (Bd) is spreading through Central America, decimating frog populations (Lips et al. 2006), and overtook the study location soon after the filming.
The cause of this is mostly habitat destruction, as well as the chytrid fungus
that is devastating wild populations of amphibians globally. Unfortunately, it was
foreseen for some years that they would become extinct in the wild, but of course
exportation was prohibited due to their extreme rarity - now the only specimens
are in zoos and big facilities, but if they were allowed
to be exported, I'm aware of dozens of PRIVATE collectors/hobbyists/breeders
who do much more good work with amphibians than any zoo in the world.
Another example is tigers, there is something like
3,000 in the wild now and
there are over 20,000 in captivity - it's a good thing these tigers in captivity
are from people's fascination with them from as much as centuries ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger#As_pets
What I'm saying is that the regions tigers come from are poorly regulated,
and your chances of ever having a wild tiger are zip. The point is that they
will eventually be hunted to death by some Chinese and sold on the black
market for traditional medicine and pelts. And what are we going to have
to do then? Reintroduce them once things settle down and these Asian
countries educate their people on the importance of natural balance and they
start taking Viagra instead of Tiger Penis.
The solutions are simple - crops of industrial hemp can replace the vast
majority of the world's problems, including deforestation. As Henry Ford said
- "Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?"
Political issues are dynamic, and are made to be dynamic. Natural resources
are a slow process, including species like lemurs. You kill one adult female,
you are ending one bloodline and killing all of her offspring, and their offspring,
etc etc.
Until we live in a world proposed by Jacques Fresco of
The Venus Project,
we will always have to put a monetary value on the things we want to save, in order
to save them.
You are right Fabian that it is an issue with mankind's governance over itself,
but the consequences of this on nature is immediate, and there will have to be
civil wars, foreign intervention, and lots of work to overcome the political issues.
What I am proposing is that if we can save some species from extinction by keeping
them in captivity until they are ready to be released again once issues settle,
then that would be better than leaving them out there to become completely extinct.
However, you can always take the standpoint that 99.99% of all species
on this planet have come and gone, everything we know only makes out a fraction
of a % of what has existed, and in the end it makes very little difference.
We still need to play our role in nature as guardians of what does exist.
But I like this planet, and right now it's in chaos - we need to give sanctuary
to all of its endangered inhabitants until it is in a state of peace.
That won't be achieved until we are a Civilization of Earth, instead of these
ridiculous flags and countries.
Bush was elected by the
people?
