Redesigning the Wildlife Trade System

摘要

K. F. Smith et al.'s policy forum ("REDUCING the risks of the wildlife trade," 1 May, p. 594) aptly proposes the need for a priori restrictions to be placed on newly traded wildlife species to predetermine their environmental, health, and economic impacts. The need for such restrictions is clear for the conservation of these traded species as well. For example, some reptile species collected for the exotic pet trade have been driven to near extinction, or extirpated from their type localities, immediately after their description in the scientific literature (7) and before receiving any protection through registration in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of wild fauna and flora.