Stop the Importation of Endangered Species!

The Bush administration wants to allow commercial international trade of many of the world’s most endangered species. If adopted, the new policy would allow the importation of hundreds of endangered species protected by the Endangered Species Act—including Asian elephants, tigers, chimpanzees and orangutans—under the pretense of “enhancing the survival” of the species.

This policy would open the flood gates for trade in highly endangered species and is inconsistent with the ESA, the United States’ obligation under CITES (the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species), and with the long-term survival of 500 foreign species that the ESA currently protects.

Endangered species from other countries will become commodities to be killed or captured by greedy individuals and businesses that profit from the exploitation of animals and destruction of wildlife. This proposal would, for example, open the door for American trophy hunters to kill the endangered straight-horned markhor in Pakistan; license the pet industry to import the blue fronted Amazon parrot from Argentina; permit the capture of endangered Asian elephants for U.S. circuses and zoos; and partially resume the trade in African ivory.

History has shown that putting a price on an animal’s head is more likely to destroy that animal than to save it.

Your comments will be faxed and/or emailed to the Fish and Wildlife service immediately.
THANK YOU! We have submitted your public comments. The OCTOBER 17TH deadline has now passed.

Dr. Peter O. Thomas, Chief of Management Authority
Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 700
Arlington, Virginia 22203
Fax: 703-358-2280


Dear Dr. Thomas:



I am writing today to voice my opposition to the administration’s current efforts to rewrite importation policies in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the hundreds of endangered species around the world. The ESA should not be weakened in this manner, but rather, it should continue to be used to protect listed species within the United States and beyond our borders.

The proposed change would undermine the basic principles of the ESA by opening the doors to wider trade in foreign endangered species and would not be in the best interest of the long-term survival of these species. The administration’s desired change in policy would mark a dramatic reinterpretation of the ESA that would have far-reaching consequences for the already vulnerable populations of foreign endangered species.

The ESA reflects America’s strong commitment to protecting endangered species wherever they are found. The Fish and Wildlife Service should respect that commitment, and maintain a permit policy that prohibits the importation of foreign endangered wildlife except in cases where the import serves a legitimate scientific need or contributes in a direct, substantial and verifiable way to the long-term survival of the species. Thank you for considering my comments.



Sincerely,


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