Update (January 31, 2017): Unfortunately, this bill died in committee.
Bill Description:
This bill prohibits people from selling, purchasing, or exchanging, or offering to sell, purchase or exchange, any wildlife or wildlife part. It also prohibits people from purchasing, selling, offering for sale, or possessing with intent to sell any item the person knows is a covered animals species part or product.
A “covered animal species” is defined as an elephant, rhinoceros, whale, tiger, lion, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or pangolin.[teaserbreak]
Exemptions:
• Activity expressly authorized by federal law
• Any species covered by the National Fishery Management Program (16 USC Sections 1851-1869)
• A musical instrument containing ivory or rhino horn, provided that the ivory or horn was legally acquired and its total weight is less than 200 grams
• An antique (not less than 100 years old) that is not made primarily of the ivory or rhino horn, provided that the antique status is established with documentation, and provided that the total weight of the ivory or horn is less than 200 grams
• Donation of the animal part or product to an educational or scientific institution for educational or scientific purposes
• Conveying the animal part or product to a legal beneficiary of an estate, trust or other inheritance
• Possession of the animal part or product by any enrolled member of a federally recognized Indian tribe
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. 2834, we can help manage the global poaching crisis and send a strong message that Mississippi will not tolerate illegal wildlife trafficking.
Read the full text here.