What is it about?
More than 90% of global hippo teeth trade is imported to, and re-exported from, Hong Kong. Of that imported, over 75% originated in Tanzania or Uganda, but there are notable disparities in declared trade volumes. In most transactions, Hong Kong declares more volume imported than the volume declared exported by Uganda. Overall, Hong Kong has reported the import of 3,176 kg more hippo teeth than declared exported by Tanzania. This indicates that actual trade levels may exceed internationally agreed quotas. In total, over 14,000 kg of hippo teeth is unaccounted for between Uganda and Hong Kong, representing more than 2,700 individual hippos— 2% of the global population. This gross discordance in trade data undermines regulatory measures and challenges the persistence of hippo populations in Africa.
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Why is it important?
When mismanaged, legal trade in threatened species can lead to unsustainable exploitation. Inaccurate and incomplete trade records from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) undermine the regulation of this trade. We examine the trade of hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) teeth to illustrate the extent of mismatched data between key trading nations.
Perspectives
This research highlights a widespread problem in international legal wildlife trade - that large data gaps exist and records are not filled out and checked comprehensively. Follow up in such cases, and enforcement of CITES regulations appears lacklustre - something that undermines the convention and its ability to protect threatened species from over exploitation.
Astrid Alex Andersson
University of Hong Kong
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Missing teeth: Discordances in the trade of hippo ivory between Africa and Hong Kong, African Journal of Ecology, August 2017, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/aje.12441.
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