CITES working group formed to combat wildlife crime

  • 18/07/2008

  • Indian Express (New Delhi)

On the heels of India's intervention on Thursday suggesting restrictions on captive tiger farming in countries like China, a working group based on this suggestion was formed, which met at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) on Friday. "The working group consists of India, US, China, WWF, European Union and the CITES Secretariat,' said Dr Susan S Lieberman, Director, Species Programme WWF-International, and member of the Working Group, speaking from Geneva to The Indian Express. "We have decided to work on the actual definition of a tiger farm. We will also notify parties on the benchmarks that we will decide on, which will seek to reduce tiger farming. We are also working on refining the benchmarks that India has suggested,' she added. CITES also announced the launch of a specialised intelligence training course for police and customs officers to fight wildlife crime.