Bill Description:
This bill prohibits people from purchasing, selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell parts or products of covered animal species.
“Covered animal species” is defined as a bonobo, gorilla, chimpanzee, orangutan, elephant (excluding mammoth), rhinoceros, tiger, lion, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, or sea turtle.[teaserbreak]
Exemptions:
• Federal or state law enforcement activity
• Duties mandated by federal or state law
• Activity expressly authorized by federal law
• Any species covered by the National Fishery Management Program (16 USC Sections 1851-1869)
• A musical instrument or antique containing a covered animal species part, provided that:
> The part is a fixed component of the item and is not the primary source of material or value for the item
> The part weighs less than 200 grams or constitutes less than 20% of the item
> The owner or seller of the item provides documentation proving that the item is at least 100 years old
> For ivory, the ivory was taken from the elephant before Feb. 26, 1976 and is not raw
• Sale to an educational or scientific institution
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 H.B. 686/S.B. 560, we can help manage the global poaching crisis and send a strong message that Maryland will not tolerate illegal wildlife trafficking.
Read the full text here for the House version and here for the Senate version.