A. Species
Scientific name: Panthera pardus
Common name(s): Leopard
Global IUCN Red List Threat Status: Vulnerable
B. Location of use
Geographic location(s):
- Myanmar (mainland)
Country/Region: Myanmar /Mong La and Tachilek
C. Scale of assessment
Scale of assessment: Sub-national / Sub-region / Sub-State
Name/Details of location: Mong La (near border to China) and Tachilek (near border to Thailand)
D. Timescale of use
Start Year: 2001
End Year: 2010
E. Information about the use
How is the wild species sourced?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Type of use: Extractive
Practice of use: Hunting and/or Trapping of live terrestrial and aerial animals
Lethal or non-lethal: Lethal
Does this use involve take/extraction of: The whole entire organism
Purpose(s) of end use: Collection/display and Ceremony and ritual expression
Motivation of use: Income generation from trade (individual/household/community)
Is this use legal or illegal?: Illegal under national law
F. Information about the Users
Which stakeholder(s) does the record primarily focus on?: Local people and National external
G. Information about the sustainability of use
Is there evidence that the use is having an impact on the target species?: Wild species sourced from its natural habitat
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an ecological perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: Between January 2001 and June 2010, 13 surveys of two major wildlife markets in Myanmar were conducted by TRAFFIC researchers - resulting in this publication data.
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: The numbers of leopards being sold could not be sustained by the population estimated to remain in the wild.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an economic perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Very simply, this trade is so entirely illegal, any sociological or economic system built upon it cannot be sustained, and enforcement would, ideally, eliminate this market. More pragmatically, wild populations cannot maintain this level of supply to meet increasing demand, especially from China.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a social perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Very simply, this trade is so entirely illegal, any sociological or economic system built upon it cannot be sustained, and enforcement would, ideally, eliminate this market. More pragmatically, wild populations cannot maintain this level of supply to meet increasing demand, especially from China.
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from a human health perspective been recorded?: not recorded
Has an assessment (or judgement) of sustainability of the use of the target species from an animal health/welfare perspective been recorded?: Yes, considered unsustainable
Details of assessment carried out: This study
Brief summary on why the use has been assessed/judged to be sustainable or unsustainable: Cruel trapping methods used.
Recommendations provided in the record to maintain or enhance the sustainability of the use of the target species
The study admonishes that: Myanmar and should enforce its existing national laws. Markets for trading protected wildlife should be shut down and offenders prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Without this basic level of commitment, other attempts to address the international trade in big cats will be crippled. The governments of Myanmar and Thailand should work more closely with one another and with neighbouring countries to address the illegal trade in big cats. The ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network should be utilized to increase intelligence sharing between governments seeking to interdict criminal syndicates trading big cats and their derivatives. The government of Myanmar should work to create a common wildlife trade enforcement framework with non-government groups operating within its national borders. The international community should also encourage these groups to recognize the enormous impact the trade is having on endangered big cats. Regardless of the governance situation in Myanmar, authorities at international border points must be more vigilant in monitoring the movement of goods across borders. Myanmar, Thailand and China should ensure staff at these checkpoints are sufficiently trained in CITES implementation, enforcement of national laws, and species/parts identification. Appropriate species identification materials should be provided to officials stationed at all border crossing points to ensure the correct identification of nationally and internationally protected species. Such materials are available in local language formats from TRAFFIC. Long-term intelligence gathering and law enforcement assistance should be expanded. Non-governmental organizations should continue collection of data on trends in trade dynamics and offer law enforcement support to government authorities of big cat range States. Mechanisms for sharing the information gathered should be developed.
Record source
Information about the record source: formal_data_stats
Date of publication/issue/production: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+0000
Source Reference(s):
Date of record entry: 2022-12-21