Bill Description:
This bill prohibits people from selling, offering for sale, purchasing, or possessing with intent to sell any part or product from an elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, lion, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, pangolin, great ape, marine turtle, shark, caiman, ray or other species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).[teaserbreak]
Exemptions:
• Guns
• Knives
• Musical instruments
• An animal part or product lawfully possessed by an enrolled member of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or pueblo for traditional cultural or religious purposes
• An antique (not less than 100 years old) whose primary value does not stem from the animal part or product, provided that the antique status is established with documentation, and provided that the total weight of the animal part or product is less than 200 grams.
• Giving the animal part or species to a educational or scientific institution that uses it in compliance with federal law
• Sale or purchase of the animal part or product expressly authorized by federal law
• Conveying the animal part or product to a legal beneficiary of an estate, trust or other inheritance upon the death of the owner of the covered animal species part or product
Background:
By removing the economic incentive to kill these animals, this measure is designed to save these species from poaching, cruelty, and the threat of extinction.
The wildlife poaching crisis has become increasingly severe over the past several years. Each year, poachers kill between 20,000 and 30,000 elephants in Africa. Additionally, all five rhino species are in serious danger, and all eight species of pangolins, the world’s most trafficked mammal, are listed as endangered or threatened with extinction. And the list goes on.
Unfortunately, the U.S. is a major destination for many of these parts and products, so there is a desperate and urgent need for legislative solutions such as this one. By passing S.B. 81, we can help manage the global poaching crisis and send a strong message that New Mexico will not tolerate illegal wildlife trafficking.
Take Action:
New Mexico residents, contact your state senator and urge him or her to support this legislation!
Read the full text and follow its progress here.