This archive report was first published on 22 August 2019.
At the 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), held in Geneva, Switzerland from August 17th to August 28th, governments have turned down the opportunity to give the critically endangered Saiga antelope the highest protection (Appendix I) from international trade.
Instead, by consensus, they agreed to formalize a current voluntary agreement by Saiga range states not to export any Saiga horns.
“Saiga antelope desperately need protection if they are to survive and thrive,” said Dr Masha Vorontsova, IFAW expert. “We’ve already lost almost 80% of the population of the species in a single decade due to their susceptibility to disease, loss of habitat, poaching for their horns and illegal trade. If ever there was a time to act it is now – while we believe Saigas should have been afforded the highest level of protection under CITES, we nonetheless welcome the decisions to formalise the existing voluntary ban on trade in new saiga horn.”
According to Dr Vorontsova, illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade, coupled with habitat loss and other human-made threats, has decimated many species so that they are now at a tipping point for future survival.
“As long as legal markets exist for trade in critically endangered wildlife, the potential exists for an illegal market which launders parts and products of poached wildlife,” she added.
The Saiga antelope will now retain their CITES Appendix II listing, which seeks to ensure commercial trade will not be “detrimental to the species.”
However, currently all Saiga range States observe a voluntary moratoria on international export of saiga products as well as laws against hunting and domestic trade in Saiga and Saiga parts and products. Governments at CITES opted to make this voluntary moratoria an official CITES zero commercial quota.
Originally occurring across a vast territory of Asia, the antelope with the elongated nose is now limited to a much more confined part of Russia and Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
Only 4,000 Saiga currently remain in the wild in Russia, with around 4,900 in Mongolia and more than 150,000 in Kazakhstan.
