TNAG-0468-FCO40-533-Legislation-for-protection-of-wild-life-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 139

24.

PENN

PENN

PENN

But it's not so simple as that because Appendix II of the Convention lists species that are potentially endangered, and not immediate- ly so, and the decision to trade in these or their products rests entirely with the exporting country. So that Britain and Hong Kong would have

to defer to Chinese assessments of Appendix II items - which now include pangolins, leopard cats, some birds of prey and Bewick swans.

Dr. Kenneth Searle is Honorary Curator of Birds at the Hong Kong

Botanic Gardens and has close contact with overscas collectors as

well as with Hong Kong dealers in specics which are not usually eaten, even by the Chinese.

Searle

Well, it shock me. This is the Eastern race of the Bewick Swan

known as Jankowski's Swan. One of the local dealers here had

orders for this particular species from Gormany and elsewhere, so he placed an order with the export people in Canton. And he received something like 300 swans - half of which were maimed, obviously been shot or badly trapped. And he had to take them

all, maimed and unmaimed.

Dr. Searle recently visited the Peking Zoo and the Chinese asked

for an exchange of birds with the British Pheasant Trust, of which he

is a Council Member.

Political pandas excepted, China's own protected list is just not known to the outside world. Propaganda emphasises the economic value of parts of even the rarest species - even the bones of the Tiger. The Bewick Swan incident and puzzling requests directed overseas suggests a total unawareness of conservation worldwide.

Searle

I have seen a letter of authorisation from the Canton Zoo,

given to a local animal dealer. The letter said that So-and-So is authorised by and on behalf of the Canton Zoo and then gave

a very large list of species of birds and mammals and reptiles

which I couldn't believe when I read it, because so many of them were.... (laughs) - so rare that the possibility of ever obtaining them under any circumstances is nil. For example, they

had the American Whooping Crane on this list, and there were other things, like many other threatened species: orangutang,

Komodo Dragon...

All these items are listed in Appendix I of the new Convention -

that is to say they are considered threatened with extinction. Appendix I items require the agreement of both exporting and importing country that trade will not threaten survival of the species. Items

in this category reaching Hong Kong from China at the moment are tiger and leopard skins, rare live cranes, and the Giant Chinese