In addition, for threatened species, permits may be issued for the above-listed activities, as well as zoological, horticultural, or botanical exhibition; education; and special purposes consistent with the Act. The Secretary of the Interior has delegated the authority to administer endangered and threatened species permit matters to the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Service’s Division of Management Authority administers the permit program for the import or export of listed species; the sale or offer for sale in interstate and foreign commerce for nonnative listed species; and the take of nonnative listed wildlife within the United States.
In 1979, the Service published the Captive-bred Wildlife (CBW) regulations (44 FR 54002, September 17, 1979) to reduce Federal permitting requirements and facilitate captive breeding of endangered and threatened species under certain conditions. These conditions include:
(1) A person may become registered with the Service to conduct otherwise prohibited activities when the activities can be shown to enhance the propagation or survival of the species;
(3) The registration is only for live, mainly non-native endangered or threatened wildlife that was born in captivity in the United States (although the Service may determine that a native species is eligible for the registration; to date, the only native species granted eligibility under the registration is the Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis));
(4) Registration does not authorize activities with non-living wildlife, a provision that is intended to discourage the propagation of endangered or threatened wildlife for consumptive markets; and
The CBW registration has provided zoological institutions and breeding operations the ability to quickly move animals between registered institutions for breeding purposes
In 1993, the Service amended the CBW regulations at 50 CFR (g) (58 FR 68323, December 27, 1993) to eliminate public education through exhibition of living wildlife as the sole justification for the issuance of a CBW registration. “This decision was based on the Service’s belief that the scope of the CBW system should be revised to relate more closely to its original intent, i.e., the encouragement of responsible breeding that is specifically designed to help conserve the species involved” (63 FR 48636).
In 1998, the Service amended the CBW regulations (63 FR 48634, September 11, 1998) to delete the requirement to obtain a CBW registration for holders of inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers (Panthera tigris) (i.e., specimens not identified or identifiable as members of Bengal, Sumatran, Siberian, or Indochinese subspecies (Panthera tigris tigris, P. t. sumatrae, P. t. altaica, and P. t. corbetti, respectively)). Although no written annual reports are required, holders of these specimens must maintain accurate written records of activities, including births, deaths, and transfers of specimens, and make the records accessible to Service agents for inspection at reasonable hours as provided in 50 CFR and . The exemption for inter-subspecific crossed or generic tigers was based on the alleged lack of conservation value of these specimens due to their mixed or unknown genetic composition. The intention behind the exemption was for the Service to focus its oversight on populations of “purebred” animals of the various tiger subspecies to further their conservation in the wild.
Any otherwise prohibited activities with these specimens are authorized only when the activities can be shown to enhance the propagation or survival of the species, provided the principal purpose is to facilitate captive breeding
The wild tiger was once abundant throughout Asia. By the end of the 19th Century, an estimated 100,000 tigers occurred in the wild (Nowak 1999, p. 828), but by the late 1990s, the estimated population declined to 5,000-7,000 animals (Seidensticker et al. 1999, p. xvii). Today’s population is thought to be 3,000-5,000 individuals, according to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List estimate (Chundawat et al. 2010, unpaginated), with no more than 2,500 mature breeding adults (Williamson https://loansolution.com/installment-loans-nc/ and Henry 2008, pp. 7, 43). The once-abundant tiger now lives in small, fragmented groups, mostly in protected forest, refuges, and national parks (FWS 2010a, p. 1). The species occupies only about 7 percent of its original range, and in the past decade, the species’ range has decreased by as much as 41 percent (Dinerstein et al. 2007, p. 508).