Abstract
Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive group of reptiles, mainly found in Africa, which have high local endemism and face significant threats from the international wildlife trade. We review the scale and structure of international chameleon trade, with a focus on collection in and exports from Tanzania; a hotspot of chameleon diversity. Analysis used data from the CITES Trade Database 2000–2019, combined with assessment of online trade, and on-the-ground surveys in Tanzania in 2019. Between 2000 and 2019, 1,128,776 live chameleons from 108 species were reported as exported globally, with 193,093 of these (from 32 species) exported by Tanzania. Both global and Tanzanian chameleon exports declined across the study period, driven by decreased trade in generalist genera. Whilst the proportion of captive-bred individuals increased across time for the generalist taxa, the majority of range-restricted taxa in trade remained largely wild-sourced. For Tanzanian exports, 41% of chameleons were from one of the 23 endemic species, and 10 of the 12 Tanzanian endemic species in trade are categorised as threatened with extinction by IUCN. In terms of online trade, of the 42 Tanzanian species assessed, there was evidence of online sale for 83.3% species, and 69% were actively for sale with prices listed. Prices were on average highest for Trioceros species, followed by Kinyongia, Rieppeleon, Rhampholeon, and Chameleo. Field work in Tanzania provided evidence that the historic harvest of endemic chameleon species has been higher than the quantities of these species reported as exported by Tanzania in their annual trade reports to CITES. However, we found no field evidence for trade in 2020 and 2021, in line with Tanzanian regulations that applied a blanket ban on all exports of live wild animals. Literature evidence, however, suggests that illegal trade continued to Europe from seizures of Tanzanian chameleon species in Austria in 2021.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Artikelnummer | e0300371 |
| Tidsskrift | PLoS ONE |
| Vol/bind | 19 |
| Udgave nummer | 5 |
| Antal sider | 14 |
| ISSN | 1932-6203 |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - 2024 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:(NDB, AP, OT & RK) acknowledge funding from the UK Research and Innovation\u2019s Global Challenges Research Fund (UKRI GCRF) through the Trade, Development and the Environment Hub project (project number ES/ S008160/1) (www.ukri.org/what-we-offer/ international-funding/global-challenges-research-fund/) The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Thanks are given to COSTECH in Tanzania for granting of the research permit within Tanzania. Special thanks are given to UNEP-WCMC for advice on the use of the CITES Trade Database. Within Tanzania, TRAFFIC & WWF Tanzania, TAWIRI, TFCG and the UNDP are all due thanks for their cooperation in all matters. Most of all we would like to extend thanks to all the local people who took the time to talk to us.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Isaac et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.