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pageMinutes of the Meeting of Caprinae Specialist Group held on 14th June 2002 during III World Conference on Mountain Ungulates at Zaragoza, Spain
A meeting of the IUCN's Caprinae Specialist Group (CSG) was held on 14th June 2002 during the 3rd World Conference on Mountain Ungulates. Marco Festa-Bianchet chaired the meeting, which was attended by several members of the CSG and many delegates to the Conference. The following items were on the agenda:
1. Short reports from: Chair, CSG; Taxonomy Working Group Chair, and Disease Working Group Chair
2. Future of the CSG Newsletter and increase in submission of articles
3. CSG participation in the IUCN Red Listing Process
4. CSG position on CITES listing of trophy-hunted Caprinae
5. Procedures for membership in CSG
6. Next meeting of the CSG and next Conference on Mountain Ungulates
7. Any additional item from CSG members
1. Short Reports:
Chair of CSG: Marco Festa-Bianchet presented a brief report on the work of the CSG, particularly what is CSG and what does it do? He mentioned that the goal of CSG is to foster conservation of Caprinae species. This is achieved through exchange of information and provision of technical advice to other organizations like CITES. Marco became Chair of the CSG in 2001, after Dr. David Shackleton completed his term. An executive committee of the CSG assists the Chair in taking decisions on affairs of the group and provide input on certain issues. The present structure of the Executive Committee is as follows:
Marco Festa-Bianchet Chair
Rich Harris Deputy Chair
David Shackleton Past Chair
Gordon Luikart Chair of Taxonomy Working Group
Sandro Lovari Past Chair
Marco Giacometti Chair of Wildlife Diseases Working Group
Amjad Tahir Virk Secretary
While highlighting activities of 2001, the Chair mentioned that an interactive CSG website has been developed, which provide information on Caprinae species and some important issues, such as the CSG's position on trophy hunting. In addition, the CSG has sponsored other meetings on mountain ungulates, but does not have a budget that would allow it to provide financial support.
Taxonomy Working Group: Dr. Gordon Luikart presented a brief communiqué on the activities of the Working Group. He mentioned that a website has been developed which highlights objectives of the group and provide names of the people working on Caprinae taxonomy. He stressed that if someone working on the taxonomy of Caprinae wishes to be included, he/she should send name and contact details to the Chair of the Taxonomy Group. Anybody working on the taxonomy could send information to the Chair that would be added to the website. He also mentioned that a protocol for sample collection has been developed, which include protocol for sampling fecal material.
Disease Working Group: Dr. Marco Giacometti presented a short report on the activities of the Disease Working Group. He said that there is need to share more information on Caprinae diseases. He solicited information on disease outbreaks and mentioned that sarcoptic mange is a major disease, which has effected many populations of Caprinae in the past, particularly in chamois and ibex in Europe. He hopes to establish collaborations with other groups working on Caprinae diseases. Informations about the activities of the Disease Working Group will soon be available on a web side linked to the CSG web page.
2. Caprinae News, the CSG Newsletter
The Chairman raised several questions about the continuation of the newsletter. Do we want to continue it, and what direction it should take? Do we want to see it serve different/additional functions? If we want to keep it, how can we increase the submission rate of articles? David Shackleton, former chair of the CSG and current Editor of the Newsletter regrets the currently low rate of submission of articles from CSG members. Submissions do not have to be journal articles. Anyone can provide a page or two on their work, especially after visiting remote locations. Graduate students are particularly encourage to provide short items on their work. Dr. Shackleton will retire soon and we must find a new editor.
There was a consensus on the usefulness of the newsletter and several members spoke in favor of continuing it. Rich Harris, Deputy Chair of the CSG said that people could send short communications (updates) on what they did or documented, and on unique observations that they want to share with others. Gordon Luikart suggested that abstracts from published papers could be put in the newsletter and these would be useful to share with those who do not have access to many journals. Dr. Nicolas Franco said that anyone could contribute to the newsletter. The Chair encouraged all CSG members and other Caprinae researchers to send to the Newsleter Editor items on whatever they think is appropriate to share with colleagues.
Decision: CSG newsletter will continue and more efforts by all CSG members will be made to enhance the submission rate of articles.
3. CSG Participation in IUCN's Red Listing Process
The CSG is responsible for providing information and making status assessments of Caprinae species. The Chair mentioned that many Caprinae species may have to be listed as “data deficient”. If the necessary data are not available, we should simply say that we cannot assess the conservation status of the species. Dr. Sandro Lovari supported this idea and pointed out that “data deficient” really should mean “research required”. The Chair reminded CSG members that it is part of their responsibilities as members to take the initiative to evaluate species for the IUCN Red List, and encouraged members to provide Status Evaluations for species for which they have the required information.
4. CITES Listing of Trophy-Hunted Caprinae
The Chair said that he was not entirely comfortable with the CITES listing process for trophy-hunted Caprinae. Bill Wall from Safari Club International said that there is a difference between trophies, skin and the export of other body parts. Trophies are considered personal effects. He said trophy-hunting programs have conservation benefits. Therefore, it is useful and appropriate for the CSG to give their opinion on the appropriatedness of listing in CITES appendices. Ute Grimm said there is a general feeling that the present listing of Ovis vignei is helpful. The CSG is an international scientific authority and a group of specialists; therefore, people expect it to provide a fair evaluation of listing proposals. Rich Harris said that the CSG is an appropriate group to provide that information. Therefore, we should have consensus on this. He also said that the most important conservation problems of Caprinae are habitat loss and diseases, not trophy-hunting.
Decision: CSG members will be broadly consulted by the Chair rgarding CITES listings of Caprinae species, and responses to CITES will if required reflect a diversity of opinions.
5. Procedures for membership in CSG
The Chair mentioned that he has renewed the CSG membership list. Former members that are either inactive or never responded to queries were not renewed. The membership of the group is structured to provide diversity of expertises and of viewpoints. There are already many members from North America and Europe, but we need more people from Asia and other regions. Whenever request for the membership are received by the Chair, they are reviewed by the Executive Committee, but eventually decisions on membership are made by the Chair.
CSG members expressed their approval for the current process of selecting members for the CSG.
6. Next meeting of the CSG and next Conference on Mountain Ungulates
Mr. Balan Madhavan from Nilgiri Tahrr Foundation, India, very generously offered to host the Fourth International Conference on Mountain Ungulate at Kerala, India. The CGS accepted this offer, provided that the political situation in the region remained calm. It was agreed that the next CSG meeting and fourth international conference on mountain ungulate would be held in India in August 2006.
7. Any Other Issue
CITES Documentation of Trophy Export: Dr. Ute Grimm brought up the issue of documentation of export/import of trophies by the custom official/CITES management authorities and their subsequent reporting to the CITES Management Secretariat. She said, there were incidents when an Appendix II species was recorded as Appendix I while documenting import of trophies. For example, export of Ovis vignei cycloceros (an Appendix II species) trophy from Pakistan was documented as Ovis vignei vignei (an Appendix I species). Inappropriate documentation could negatively affect conservation hunting programs. In other cases, species were recorded as being exported from countries outside their geographical range. Dr. Grimm encouraged CSG members to address this issue and assist CITES Management Authorities to provide correct documentation of export/import of trophies.
Caprinae Action Plan Update: Mike Frisina mentioned that the Caprinae Action Plan needs to be updated. There have been many changes in the status and distribution of many Caprinae species over the last ten years. These changes should be incorporated in the plan. The Chair said that the Action Plan should be updated every ten years, and that's what he plans to do. He will initiate contacts to work on a new edition of the Action Plan within a year.
The meeting ended with concluding remarks from the Chair. He thanked all the participants for attending the meeting and participating in the discussion. He particularly thanked Dr. Juan Herrero and other members of the Local Organizing Committee for their superb organization of the meeting.