CITES: The Savior of the African Organisms

With crimes concerning the illegal trade of wildlife ranked fourth in global crime rates, many African animals face endangerment and even extinction for the selling and trading of organisms and their parts-the cheetah is no exception. Poaching threatens ecosystems sprawling over multiple continents and the environment itself. Cheetahs are victimized for their beautiful spotted pelts and the illegal pet trade, an extremely detrimental practice that takes wild animals out of their natural habitats and into homes of regular citizens, most of whom have no qualifications to care for the cheetah.

A case of cheetahs about to be sold in the pet trade comes from Tanzania, where three cheetahs were found cramped together in a single cage, ready to be transported. Luckily, these three were lucky enough to be found by local officials before they were sold, but not all are as lucky as them. Along with the cheetah, elephants fall victim to the trade for their tusks and animals like the dik-dik and gazelle are killed for their meat (also referred to as bushmeat). With animals being harmed in a such horrible ways and their ecosystems starting to suffer because of it, it was clear action needed to be taken to provide protection.

In 1973, a law known as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) was put into effect. 21 countries came together to sign the agreement and swore to implement the rules in their individual countries against poaching that would be recognized internationally. After decades of being put into effect, CITES remains in integral part of conservation work and now has a membership rate of 175 countries. 34,000 species are protected from poaching and illegal trade. Every two to three years, representatives meet and update their list of protected species. The protected are sorted into three categories, each level providing more or less protection depending upon the state of the species as a whole.

Even though CITES has been put into effect, there are still poachers operating illegally. CITES decided to take some action against those criminals by meeting with law enforcement officals and rangers in order to work out ways to stop the wrongdoers and further protect the animals they target. It's been made clear that CITES is not only protecting the cheetah, but other endangered and important animals as well. Legal action is needed in order to fully help a species survive despite victimization. CITES is the answer and even more countries should consider signing in and taking the initiative to protect their ecosystems as well as the health of the environment itself.


Works Cited:

CITES Logo. Digital image. CITES. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

"CITES." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

Largo, Verity. "Poaching - the Cheetahs of the Serengeti Face Extinction."Ecologist. N.p., 16 Nov. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.