Goodall, Wilson, 350 More Rip Bush Plan To Kill, Import Endangered Species

WASHINGTON, DC, March 10, 2004 (ENS) - "More than 350 scientists from the international conservation community are urging President George W. Bush to withdraw his administration's proposal to allow U.S. hunters and businesses to capture, kill and import some endangered species from foreign countries.

The proposal "poses a significant threat to the very species it is designed to benefit," according to the letter the scientists sent to the administration.

World famous primatologist Jane Goodall, and esteemed zoologists and authors Dr. Edward O. Wilson and Dr. George Schaller were among the 359 signers of the letter, which questions both the structure and science behind the President's policy.

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In their letter, the scientists raise the concern that the rule "would apply, without limitation, to any of the more than 550 foreign species currently protected by the ESA." It questions the lack of enforcement standards in the proposal as well as its failure to account for the illegal trade and poaching that invariably accompanies increased legal trade in endangered animals."

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http://forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=30074