baseline estimates of supply
Great white sharks and lions are two of the endangered species slated for extra protection in new proposals to limit trade in their body parts.
Shark teeth, jaws and fins should be subject to regulation for the first time to prevent over-exploitation by hunters, says one proposal. Another seeks a total ban on trade in lion body parts.
Elephants, by contrast, are now plentiful enough to allow the controversial ivory trade to be resumed legally, according to a proposal, with some countries allowed to sell pre-set annual quotas. There are also calls for commercial trade in elephant leather to resume.
Andy Coghlan/New Scientist May.13.04
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...in a country[Thailand] whose civilization was more or less built on the elephant's back, the mighty creature is fast disappearing. More than 100,000 existed at the beginning of last century. At the beginning of the 21st, there are less than 5,000 -- 2,000 of which are still in the wild
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...logging is all but illegal now in Thailand, and the domesticated elephant, it seems, is out of luck.
An average elephant weighs 11,000 pounds and consumes more than 26 gallons of water and 440 pounds of food a day. That's why their owners consciously curb breeding among the captive beasts, bringing down their number even farther.
Many owners, left with no other choice, have now turned their elephants into urban beggars.
"I feel bad for the elephants," says Silvy Tongurai, a tour guide who loves feeding the beasts. "Some get hit by trucks because drivers can't avoid them in time."
The news is worse for the wild elephant.
Andrew Lam/ Pacific News Service May.11.04
