Turning the tide on big cat trade: Expert opinion on trends and conservation lessons from the Republic of Korea

Unsustainable trade in big cats affects all species in the genus, Panthera , and is one of the foremost threats to their conservation. To provide further insight into the impact of policy interventions intended to address this issue, we examine the case study of the Republic of Korea (South Korea),...

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Veröffentlicht in:	PloS one Jg. 19; H. 5; S. e0299783
Hauptverfasser:	Elves-Powell, Joshua, Lee, Hang, Axmacher, Jan C., Durant, Sarah M.
Format:	Journal Article
Sprache:	Englisch
Veröffentlicht:	United States Public Library of Science 15.05.2024 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Schlagworte:	20th century Animals Bans Biology and Life Sciences Bones Case studies Cats CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Commerce - trends Conservation Conservation of Natural Resources - legislation & jurisprudence Conservation of Natural Resources - trends Database industry Endangered & extinct species Endangered species Endangered Species - legislation & jurisprudence Endangered Species - statistics & numerical data Endangered Species - trends International economic relations International trade Introduced species Laws, regulations and rules Methods Panthera Panthera pardus Panthera tigris People and places Protection and preservation Questionnaires Republic of Korea Sanctions (International law) Social Sciences Surveys and Questionnaires Tigers Trade restrictions Trends Wild animal trade Wild cat Wildcats Wildlife conservation Wildlife smuggling Wildlife trade Republic of Korea United Kingdom Southeast Asia South Korea Thailand China Korean Peninsula
ISSN:	1932-6203, 1932-6203
Online-Zugang:	Volltext
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Zusammenfassung:	Unsustainable trade in big cats affects all species in the genus, Panthera , and is one of the foremost threats to their conservation. To provide further insight into the impact of policy interventions intended to address this issue, we examine the case study of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), which in the early 1990s was one of the world’s largest importers of tiger ( Panthera tigris ) bone and a major manufacturer of tiger-derived medicinal products. In 1993, South Korea became a Party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and introduced a ban on commercial trade in CITES Appendix I-listed big cats a year later. We used an expert-based questionnaire survey and an exploration of the CITES trade database to investigate what has since happened to big cat trade in South Korea. Expert opinion suggested that big cat trade has likely substantially reduced since the early 1990s, as a result of the trade ban and broad socioeconomic changes. However, illegal trade has not been eradicated entirely and we were able to confirm that products reportedly derived from big cats were still publicly available for sale on a range of Korean online marketplaces, sometimes openly. The items most commonly reported by respondents from post-1994 trade and supported by expert-led evidence were tiger and leopard ( Panthera pardus ) skins and tiger bone wine. Although South Korea may provide a useful case study of a historically significant consumer country for tiger which has made strong progress in addressing unsustainable levels of big cat trade within a short period of time, there remains a need to address recalcitrant small-scale, illegal trade. We also recommend further investigation regarding reports of South Korean nationals being involved in illegal trade in tiger-derived products in Southeast Asia.
Bibliographie:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0299783