Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T10:00:10.084Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Elephant populations and CITES trade resolutions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2009

RUDI J. VAN AARDE
Affiliation:
Conservation Ecology Research Unit, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa e-mail: [email protected]
SAM M. FERREIRA
Affiliation:
Conservation Ecology Research Unit, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa e-mail: [email protected]

Summary

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) relies on the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) and Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants Programme (MIKE) monitoring systems and trends in elephant numbers and the illegal killing of elephants to put resolutions forward to the Conference of Parties. Imprecision in elephant estimates and trends, as well as the spatial reality of elephant dynamics constrain CITES resolutions. Clusters of populations should instead serve as management units and demographic profiling predicting future population trends may complement existing approaches to inform CITES decisions.

Type
Comment
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blake, S., Strindberg, S., Boudjan, P., Makombo, C., Bila-Isia, I., Ilambu, O., Grossmann, F.O., Bene-Bene, L., de Semboli, B., Mbenzo, V., S'hwa, D., Bayogo, R., Williamson, L., Fay, M., Hart, J. & Maisels, F. (2007) Forest elephant crisis in the Congo Basin. PLoS Biology 5 (4): 945953. e111 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050111CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chamaillé-Jammes, S., Fritz, H., Valeix, M., Murindagomo, F. & Clobert, J. (2008) Resource variability, aggregation and direct density dependence in an open context: the local regulation of an African elephant population. Journal of Animal Ecology 77: 135144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CITES (1989) Trade in elephant specimens [www document]. URL www.cites.org/eng/res/10/10-10.shtmlGoogle Scholar
CITES (1997) Trade in elephant specimens [www document]. URL http://www.cites.org/eng/cop/10/E10-amendments.pdfGoogle Scholar
CITES (2007 a) Elephants: conditions for the disposal of ivory stocks and generating resources for conservation in African elephant range states [www document]. URL http://www.cites.org/eng/dec/valid14/10_02.shtmlGoogle Scholar
CITES (2007 b) The Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS) [www document]. URL http://www.cites.org/eng/prog/ETIS/index.shtmlGoogle Scholar
CITES (2007 c) Monitoring the illegal killing of elephants [www document]. URL http://www.cites.org/eng/prog/MIKE/intro/index.shtmlGoogle Scholar
Courouble, M., Hurst, F. & Millken, T. (2003) More ivory than elephants: domestic ivory markets in three West African countries. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Cumming, D. (2000) Ivory trading: the southern African view. Swara 22: 29.Google Scholar
Ferreira, S.M. & van Aarde, R.J. (2008) A rapid method to estimate population variables for African elephants. Journal of Wildlife Management 72: 822829.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, B. & Maurseth, P.B. (2006) The spatial econometrics of elephant population change: a note. Ecological Economics 60: 320323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, N. & Milliken, T. (2004) Clarifying MIKE and ETIS. Pachyderm 36: 129132.Google Scholar
IFAW (2004) Elephants on the high street: an investigation into ivory trade in the UK. International Fund for Animal Welfare, London, UK.Google Scholar
Junker, J. (2009) An analysis of numerical trends in African elephant populations. M.Sc. thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.Google Scholar
Junker, J., van Aarde, R.J. & Ferreira, S.M. (2008) An appraisal of temporal trends in elephant numbers and densities in northern Botswana. Oryx 42: 5865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, E.B. & Stiles, D. (2003) The ivory markets of East Asia. Save the Elephants, Nairobi, Kenya.Google Scholar
Mpanduji, D.G., Hofer, H., Hildebrandt, T.B., Goeritz, F. & East, M.L. (2002) Movement of elephants in the Selous-Naissa wildlife corridor, southern Tanzania. Pachyderm 33: 1831.Google Scholar
Morley, R.C. & van Aarde, R.J. (2007) Estimating abundance for a savanna elephant population using mark-resight methods: a case study for the Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa. Journal of Zoology, London 271: 418427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ntumi, C.P., Ferreira, S.M. & van Aarde, R.J. (2009) A review of historical trends in the distribution and abundance of elephants in Mozambique. Oryx (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olivier, P.I., Ferreira, S.M. & van Aarde, R.J. (2009) Dung survey bias and elephant population estimates in southern Mozambique. African Journal of Ecology (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spinage, C.A. (1973) A review of ivory exploitation and elephant population trends in Africa. East African Wildlife Journal 11: 281289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiles, D. (2004) The ivory trade and elephant conservation. Environmental Conservation 31: 309321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiles, D. & Martin, E.B. (2001) Status and trends of the ivory trade in Africa, 1989–1999. Pachyderm 30: 2436.Google Scholar
van Aarde, R.J. & Jackson, T.P. (2007) Megaparks for metapopulations: addressing the causes of locally high elephant numbers in southern Africa. Biological Conservation 134: 289297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Aarde, R.J., Ferreira, S.M., Jackson, T.P., Page, B., de Beer, Y., Junker, J., Gough, K., Guldemond, R., Olivier, P.I., Ott, T. & Trimble, M.J. (2008) Population biology and ecology. In: Elephant Management: A Scientific Assessment for South Africa, ed. Scholes, R.J. & Mennell, K.G., pp. 84145. Johannesburg, South Africa: Wits University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wasser, S.K., Mailand, C., Booth, R., Mutayoba, B., Kisamo, E., Clark, B. & Stephens, M. (2007) Using DNA to track the origin of the largest ivory seizure since the 1989 trade ban. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 104: 42284233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Van Aarde supplementary material

Summary.doc

Download Van Aarde supplementary material(File)
File 27.6 KB