Whos On CITES And Why?
What is initially needed is a systematic survey of species currently listed under CITES II in the wild. Unfortunately, it is very difficult indeed to obtain funding for this type of work for animals generating public sympathy, let alone enormous hairy spiders believed by many to be deadly! However, until data of this type are available no species will be removed from the CITES listing. One does wonder about the “threatened” status of Brachypelma albopilosum or Brachypelma vagans in the wild, for instance, yet there is such a paucity of good quality public domain data that both will require CITES permits for the foreseeable future. Other genera may also require studying with regards to CITES listing, although many governments are now placing their own restrictions, at least to some extent, on export of native flora and fauna. These include Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, India, and Sri Lanka among others, all countries with good numbers of theraphosid species. One genus that does seem to
