Endangered and Threatened Species at the Oregon Zoo

ENDANGERED SPECIES AT OREGON ZOO

What does endangered mean?

Endangered and Threatened are U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) status designations related to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Appendix I and II are designations of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).

USFWS Endangered and CITES Appendix I species are those considered to be in danger of extinction now. Threatened and Appendix II species are those that will become endangered if trade in these animals and their parts (fur, feathers, skin, tusks, horns, etc.) is not regulated. CITES regulations apply to international trade in animals and their parts. The USFWS ESA regulations apply to both U.S. domestic and international trade in animals and their parts. Species can be on both lists, or only one list, and there are hundreds of species being proposed that are not yet on any regulatory list.

The complete regulations for the Endangered Species Act and the CITES convention are complex. In addition to these regulations, many species are regulated by additional wildlife and conservation laws.

How do we know which animals in the zoo are endangered?

The USFWS Endangered and Threatened Species list and the CITES Appendix I and II lists are the official references for which species have endangered status and are thus subject to regulation in commercial trade, domestic shipping across state lines, or international shipping between countries. Other references use terms such as rare, endangered, vulnerable, and "at risk" to describe the serious plight of populations in the wild, but these are not official designations for regulating trade involving the species.

In the United States, all activities involving endangered species are regulated by the USFWS. They are responsible for publishing both the USFWS Endangered Species List and the CITES Appendices in the U.S. Each country participating in CITES has its own Management Authority which is responsible for publishing and administering CITES regulations.

What does this zoo list represent?

The attached list includes those species in the zoo that are currently listed by USFWS and CITES. This information is critical to zoo operations because it determine how Living Collections staff prepares animal transactions and complies with permit requirements.

For more information:
USFWS: www.fws.gov
CITES: www.CITES.org
IUCN: www.iucn.org