Thanks to EU amendments that were supported, progress was made in the fight to protect elephants on Tuesday 27 August in Geneva at the 18th Meeting of the Parties (COP 18) to the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES): the ban on the capture of wild African elephants for captivity was confirmed by a plenary vote, which the European Commissioner for the Environment, Karmenu Vella, took pride in.
“Congratulations to the EU team at CITES for their role in securing a comprehensive ban on sending African elephants captured from the wild to zoos. And thanks to the whole CITES family for their commitment to practical international cooperation”, he said on his Twitter account, referring to “a day of hope for the future of elephants, geckos, giraffes, otters, etc. And a day of validation of the CITES system of international cooperation”.
The same satisfaction is expressed by animal welfare NGOs. “CITES CoP18 has reaffirmed to end the cruel capture of wild African baby elephants from Zimbabwe & Botswana. Thank you so much to our amazing supporters in the EU and US and all the celebrities who united to help spare elephants from suffering”, the NGO World Animal Protection was delighted on Twitter.
The COP also included the giraffe in Annex II of the Convention, to subject trade in all giraffes to a control regime, and strengthened the protection of two species of Asian otters, the grey otter and the smooth-skinned otter, now listed in the strictest Annex I, since it prohibits trade in the species listed therein. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)