Criteria met: High volume
Principal trade term: skins
Percentage of global trade: 25%
Principal source: wild
Top importer: Turkey
Top Trading Partner: Argentina
CITES Appendix: II
IUCN Status: Least Concern
In 2010, imports by Turkey primarily consisted of skins traded for commercial purposes (26,760 skins), of which the majority were wild-sourced (82%) and the remainder captive-bred. All of the wild-sourced imports and the majority of the captive-bred imports originated in Argentina; the remaining 3% of captive-bred imports were imported from Viet Nam via Italy. The SRG reconfirmed a positive opinion for specimens from Argentina on 02/12/2008.
No trade in L. griseus to other candidate countries was reported by either candidate countries or exporters in 2010.
Imports of wild-sourced skins by Turkey peaked in 2007, and subsequently decreased up to 2009. Although there was a three-fold increase between 2009 and 2010, imports were still well below the level reported between 2006 and 2008.