Following this discussion with great interest. When I was doing a lot more plant exploration than recently (1970's and 1980's) it was standard practice for endangered plants seized at the point of import without CITES papers to be sent to incineration. Endangered animals were euthanised.If the border boys could say, "nope, we didn't let none of them CITES things through", I guess that was 'job well done'. Presumably that has changed a lot since then, but what happens to all the plants and animals which are not taken in by botanic gardens or zoos? CITES is designed by and administered by "bean counters", so applying the letter of the law is what counts to them, not survival of the organisms as individuals, nor the species as a whole. It was started as a broken system, and seriously needs public and vocal discussion leading to a thorough overhaul. erik