Assessing the potential threat of exportation on cites listed species in Uganda

Abstract

The study assessed the extent of legal trade in CITES-listed species in Uganda from 2021 to 2024, using export permit data from the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities. The data was extracted from the eCITES database in the wildlife conservation department at MTWA where all the export permits available were assessed. The data collected included species names, trade term exported e.g. skulls, live specimen, skin etc., year of export and purpose of trade e.g. commercial (T), hunting trophy (H), zoo (Z), scientific (S), personal (P), educational (E), and breeding in captivity (B). This data was analyzed using SPSS version 28 to identify the most frequently exported species, trends of the most exported species, purposes of export and the different trade terms exported. GraphPad Prism 8.0.2 (263) was used to visualize the results by generating bar graphs. Results showed that trade predominantly involved Appendix II species, with hippopotamus, olive baboon, Galapagos land iguana, vervet monkey, python and chimpanzee being the top most exported in that order. For the trade terms, live animal exports were most common, followed by skull, skin and teeth. Trophy hunting (H) showed the highest purpose of trade followed by commercial, scientific, personal, zoo, and finally educational (E). The trends for the most exported species across the years are not very clear, however the frequency of trade is generally low with the highest being hippopotamus with a total frequency of 9 for the four years. The trade appears moderately sustainable due to low frequencies over the four-year period for most species. However, continued exports especially in form of skulls, skins, teeth, and hunting trophies could lead to population declines and eventually local extinctions, particularly for threatened species such as the hippopotamus and leopard. This may result in reduced tourism and ABS revenue, biodiversity loss, violations of CITES regulations, and loss of livelihoods for communities that depend on wildlife. To ensure sustainability, exports of threatened species should be limited, CITES data should inform conservation and tourism planning, species should be monitored before permit approval, hunting trophy trade needs to be regulated, and a national wildlife trade strategy could be developed.