III 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 420 

Designating March 3, 2018, as ‘‘World Wildlife Day’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2018 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. INHOFE) submitted the following resolution; 

which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating March 3, 2018, as ‘‘World Wildlife Day’’. 

Whereas wildlife has provided numerous economic, environmental, social, and cultural benefits during the course of 

human history and wildlife conservation will secure those 

gifts for future generations; 

Whereas plant and animal species play an important role in 

the stability of diverse ecosystems around the world and 

the conservation of that biodiversity is critical to maintain the delicate balance of nature and keep complex ecosystems thriving; 

Whereas observation of wild plants and animals in their natural habitat provides individuals with a more enriching 

worldview and a greater appreciation of the wonders of 

the natural environment; 


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Whereas tens of millions of individuals in the United States 

strongly support the conservation of wildlife, both domestically and abroad, and wish to ensure the survival of 

species in the wild, such as rhinoceroses, tigers, elephants, pangolins, turtles, seahorses, sharks, ginseng, 

mahogany, and cacti; 

Whereas the trafficking of wildlife, including timber and fish, 

comprises the fourth largest global illegal trade after narcotics, the counterfeiting of products and currency, and 

human trafficking and has become a major transnational 

organized crime with an estimated worth of as much as 

$19,000,000,000 annually; 

Whereas increased demand in Asia for high-value illegal wildlife products, particularly elephant ivory and rhinoceros 

horns, has triggered substantial and rapid increases in 

poaching of those species; 

Whereas the trafficking of wildlife is a primary threat to 

many wildlife species, including elephants, rhinoceroses, 

tigers, pangolins, and sharks; 

Whereas many different kinds of criminals, including some 

terrorist entities and rogue security personnel, often in 

collusion with corrupt government officials, are involved 

in wildlife poaching and the movement of ivory and rhinoceros horns across Africa; 

Whereas wildlife poaching presents significant security and 

stability challenges for military and police forces in African nations that are often threatened by heavily armed 

poachers and the criminal, extremist allies of those 

poachers; 


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Whereas wildlife poaching negatively impacts local communities that rely on natural resources for economic development, including through tourism; 

Whereas penal and financial deterrents can improve the ability of governments to reduce poaching and trafficking 

and enhance the capabilities of those governments in 

managing resources; 

Whereas assisting institutions in developing nations, including by providing material, training, legal, and diplomatic 

support, can reduce illegal wildlife trade; 

Whereas wildlife provides a multitude of benefits to all nations and wildlife crime has wide-ranging economic, environmental, and social impacts; 

Whereas the African Elephant Status Report 2016 issued by 

the International Union for Conservation of Nature revealed that the elephant population of Africa has recently 

seen a dramatic decline, mainly due to poaching during 

the 10 years preceding the issuance of the report, and 

the continental population is now thought to be 415,428; 

Whereas the estimated African elephant population decreased 

by approximately 93,000 between 2006 and 2015, despite 

the inclusion of approximately 18,000 elephants that 

were previously uncounted, making the actual decline 

closer to 111,000; 

Whereas, from 2007 to 2012, the number of elephants killed 

in Kenya increased by more than 800 percent, from 47 

to 387 elephants killed; 

Whereas, between 2002 and 2013, as a result of poaching, 

about 65 percent of the forest elephant population was 

killed and that species lost 30 percent of its geographical 

range; 


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Whereas World Wildlife Fund elephant surveys conducted between 2014 and 2016 and covering 6,000,000 hectares 

confirmed this catastrophic trend, documenting losses of 

66 percent of the remaining elephants between 2008 and 

2016, placing forest elephants on track for extinction in 

the next decade; 

Whereas fewer than 50,000 wild Asian elephants remain and 

poaching of these populations is on the rise, with an average of 1 elephant poached every week in Burma, driven 

by demand for elephant skin products; 

Whereas the number of rhinoceroses killed by poachers in 

South Africa— 

(1) dramatically increased from 13 in 2007 to 1,215 

in 2014, an increase of more than 9,000 percent; and 

(2) was 1,028 in 2017; 

Whereas the 3 species of Asian rhinoceroses also remain 

under constant threat of poaching, with a greater 1- 

horned rhinoceros poached in Kaziranga National Park 

in India as recently as January 2018; 

Whereas pangolins are often referred to as the most trafficked mammal in the world; 

Whereas all 8 pangolin species spanning Africa and Asia are 

faced with extinction because pangolin scales are sought 

after in the practice of traditional Chinese medicine and 

pangolin meat is considered a delicacy; 

Whereas approximately 100,000,000 sharks are killed annually, often targeted solely for their fins, and 

unsustainable trade is the primary cause of serious population decline in several shark species, including scalloped 

hammerhead sharks, great hammerhead sharks, and oceanic whitetip sharks; 


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Whereas the vaquita porpoise of Mexico, with fewer than 30 

individual porpoises remaining, is being driven to extinction through bycatch in gillnets set for the totoaba fish, 

the swim bladder of which feeds a lucrative illegal trade 

through the United States to Asia; 

Whereas tiger populations have plummeted by 95 percent 

over the last 100 years and African lion populations have 

declined by 40 percent over the last 20 years; 

Whereas fewer than 4,000 tigers remain in the wild throughout all of Asia; 

Whereas there are more than 7,000 tigers in farms in China, 

Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, which continues to stoke 

demand for illegal tiger products and contributes to 30 

percent of illegal trading with respect to that animal; 

Whereas the United States is developing and implementing 

measures to address the criminal, financial, security, and 

environmental aspects of wildlife trafficking; 

Whereas Congress has allocated specific resources to combat 

wildlife trafficking and address the threats posed by 

poaching and the illegal wildlife trade; 

Whereas Congress recently passed the Eliminate, Neutralize, 

and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act of 2016 (16 U.S.C. 

7601 et seq.) to strengthen the response of the United 

States to the global wildlife trafficking crisis; 

Whereas, in December 2013, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 3 as World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the wild fauna and flora 

around the world; 

Whereas March 3, 2018, represents the fifth annual celebration of World Wildlife Day; 


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Whereas, in 2018, the theme of World Wildlife Day is ‘‘Big 

cats: predators under threat’’; and 

Whereas, in 2018, World Wildlife Day commemorations will 

raise awareness about the plight of big cats and galvanize 

support for the many global and national actions that are 

underway to save those iconic species: Now, therefore, be 

it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) designates March 3, 2018, as ‘‘World Wild3 life Day’’; 

4 (2) supports raising awareness of the benefits 

5 that wildlife provides to people and the threats fac6 ing wildlife around the world; 

7 (3) supports escalating the fight against wildlife 

8 crime, including wildlife trafficking; 

9 (4) applauds the domestic and international ef10 forts to escalate the fight against wildlife crime; 

11 (5) commends the efforts of the United States 

12 to mobilize the entire Federal Government in a co13 ordinated, efficient, and effective manner for dra14 matic progress in the fight against wildlife crime; 

15 and 

16 (6) encourages continued cooperation between 

17 the United States, international partners, local com18 munities, nonprofit organizations, private industry, 

19 and other partner organizations in an effort to conVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Mar 01, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR420.ATS SR420

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1 serve and celebrate wildlife, preserving this precious 

2 resource for future generations. 

Æ 


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