Background

International trade in wildlife is big business. In 1981 the U.S.A. imported and exported wildlife and wildlife products worth over U.S.$962 million. A fur coat made from South American ocelots fetches up to U.S.$40,000 in the Federal Republic of Germany, a single orchid or macaw may sell for over U.S.$5,000 and an ounce of rhinoceros horn in an eastern medicine shop can cost more than an ounce of gold. The trade goes back for centuries, but there was a dramatic increase in its volume 15-20 years ago. By the late 1960s a staggering 5-10 million crocodilian skins were entering international trade each year. In 1968 the U.S.A. alone imported the skins of 1,300 cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), 9,600 leopard (Panthera pardus), 13,500 jaguar (Panthera onca) and 129,000 ocelot (Felis pardalis), and in 1972 Kenya's ivory exports reached their highest recorded annual level of 150 tonnes.

The first demand for controls on the international wildlife trade was made as early as 1911 when Paul Sarasin, a Swiss conservationist, called for restrictions on the import and export of bird feathers because of the effect of the vogue for plumed hats on bird populations.