There are various species that are in danger including chimpanzees, lions, and leopards

Leer en Español: Tan solo quedan 90mil jirafas en todo el mundo

For the first time in history, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Bonn Agreement, included giraffes in its endangered list. During its last reunion in the Philippines, the group integrated by 124 countries announced that 34 new species were going to to be added to the list.

According to Bradnee Chambers, executive secretary of the CMS assured that “it was a week with intense negotiations that lead us to a greater commitment of the countries to preserve the wild migratory animals of the planet. Thanks to the efforts the Agreement has a mechanism to guarantee that the countries accomplish their obligations. We also added some species that challenge the boundaries and the limits of the international efforts”.

The members classified these animals IGNORE INTO 2 groups. The first group forces the animal’s country to protect its specie.  Group number two demands international protection.

Giraffes

The world’s tallest mammal will be added to the second group of the CMS for the first time in history. It was explained that “despite many southern African countries has favorable Giraffes populations, there are only 90,000 species in the whole continent”.

Sea species

The Convention included 3 shark species, 3 manta rays, and the whale shark in the first group. Now they will receive more protection due to being at high risk. Some other species that will have special protection in the second group: dusky shark, blue shark, guitarfish, and the Rinchobatys Australiae.

Birds

In the first group are 4 Asiatic vultures species, 5 sub-Saharan vultures, the big-eared vulture, and the steppe Eagle.

Big cats

The inclusion of the lion and the leopard in the second group of the CMS “is the first step towards the common actions to protect the big African carnivores. It will make them a focal point to implement the Resolutions and Decisions over lions, leopards, and cheetahs conservation”.

Primates

The chimpanzees are in the first and the second group. During three generations, the chimpanzee population has decreased almost 50%, as well as its habitat.

Other mammals

The Gobi bear is in a high extinction risk, so it has been included in the first group of the CMS. There are just 45 individuals of this brown bear subspecies. They are located in Mongolia and China, near the Gobi desert.

The Caspio seal, historically located in the biggest inner sea of the world, is in danger due to its needs on migration and ice for hunting. The CMS also included the African Wild Donkey, the Przewalski horse and 4 Lasiurus bat species to get more protection.

The 124 governments also agreed to collaborate to reduce the negative impacts of the sea wastes, noise pollution, renewable energies, and climate change on the migratory species.

Latin American Post | Santiago Gómez Hernández

Copy edited by Susana Cicchetto