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Millions of imperiled animals are plucked from their wild habitat each year for sale as pets, trinkets, designer fashion and décor, unproven cure-alls, and hunting trophies. This trade and exploitation is driving extinction — and contrary to popular belief, the United States is a major player in the global wildlife market.
But that can change. Next year nations from around the world will meet at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting — CITES for short — to decide which animals and plants will be protected from global trade.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now accepting public input on its plans for that meeting. Add your voice to declare that we must get serious about reining in the wildlife trade as it accelerates the global extinction crisis.
Let's demand the U.S. government be ambitious and propose protections for all imperiled wildlife harmed by trade. The U.S. market hoovers up species from the wild worldwide, from funky-looking sea cucumbers traded as a culinary delicacy to brightly colored frogs and fish swooped up for the pet trade to the most beautiful butterflies, tarantulas, beetles and songbirds coveted by collectors. It also ships out our native wildlife, often to their detriment.
Urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to lead the way in ensuring imperiled species get CITES protections from trade.