International
CITES – Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1975)
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international treaty to protect plants and animals in the wild. It came into force in July 1975 after many years of discussion about the impact of international unregulated trade on the planet’s plants and animals. The current members of CITES are the European Union and 182 countries.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (1993)
The Convention on Biological Diversity is a multilateral treaty with three goals: the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources.
Regional
European Union Habitats Direction (1992)
The Habitats Directive is a European Council Directive on conserving natural habitats, wild fauna, and flora. Its purpose is to “promote the maintenance of biodiversity, taking account of economic, social, cultural and regional requirements.”
A website with links to African wildlife legislation and cases, including Search by Country for:
United States of America
The Endangered Species Act – USA (1973)
In the United States of America (USA), the need to protect wildlife began in the mid-twentieth century with the increasing loss of natural habitats due to the commercialization of farming and expansion of urban areas. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provided a basic framework to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitat.The
Signed into law in 1966, it regulates the treatment of animals in research, teaching, exhibitions, transport, dealers, and breeders. The term “animal” means “any live or dead dog, cat, monkey (nonhuman primate mammal), guinea pig, hamster, rabbit, or such other warm-blooded animal,” with some exclusions. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) enforces and inspects z00s, circuses, aquariums, and petting zoos.
The Lacey Act, as amended in 1981 and 2008, prohibits the importation, exportation, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition, or purchase of any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or regulation of the United States.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act was enacted December 20, 2022, to end the private ownership of big cats as pets and prohibit exhibitors from allowing public contact with big cats, including cubs. It also placed restrictions on the commerce, breeding, possession and use of some big cat species.
(Proposed Legislation) United States Foundation for International Conservation
To establish the United States Foundation for International Conservation to promote long-term management of protected and conserved areas and for other purposes.
(Proposed Legislation) The Prohibiting Threatened and Endangered Creature Trophies Act (ProTECT) of 2024 (H.R. 7840) is a U.S. bill “To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit the taking for a trophy of any endangered or threatened species of fish or wildlife in the United States and the importation of endangered and threatened species trophies into the United States and for other purposes.”
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