(BANGKOK, November 19, 2009) - Can you tell an Indian Star from a Ploughshare Tortoise or Eld’s Deer antlers from those of a Sambar? Without expert assistance, accurately identifying wild animal and plant species can be extremely difficult. This is a major challenge faced by law enforcement officers who need to be able to recognize which of an incredibly large variety of wild species is being traded illegally because they are protected by national and international laws designed to preserve natural resources and biological diversity.
The ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) has developed a set of easy-to-use species identification guides to help Southeast Asia’s CITES Management Authority, Police, Customs and other enforcement officers as they inspect shipments of wildlife and derivative products to check if they comply with the relevant legislation.

“It’s impossible for officers to be experts in the identification of every wildlife product they come across, which is why ASEAN-WEN has produced these guides to help them” said Dr Chumphon Sukkaseam, Senior Officer of the ASEAN-WEN Program Coordination Unit.
The guides will help busy frontline enforcement officers determine whether a species is being transported legally, and, if not, how to seek specialist help.
The species identification guides are available in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia, Burmese, Khmer, Lao, Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese. They were produced by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded ASEAN-WEN Support Program (implemented by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and FREELAND Foundation). The ASEAN-WEN Support Program is delivering training and technical assistance to boost the capacity of Southeast Asian authorities to enforce national and international laws designed to protect the region’s biodiversity.
These identification guides were compiled by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
 

Please find the Species ID Sheets for download here.

For more information, visit www.asean-wen.org or contact:
ASEAN-WEN Program Coordination Unit
Tel: +662 940 6286
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