[SENATE] Save the Jaguar Bill

[Smyg]

See this photograph right here? This, my dear colleagues and comrades, is an American imperialist — President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States — standing proud over a Jaguar, the national animal of Brazil and an increasingly endangered apex hunter, slain for no reason but to satisfy Yankee bloodlust.

Now, onto the matter at hand. I know that the New York Zoological Society and other famous conservationist organisations have been much concerned regarding the international capitalist trade in animal products, as they can completely destroy a species. And so too should we. The Jaguar is not only vital to the survival of the natural system, it us also the national symbol of Brazil, key in our indigenous culture, and seen everywhere from paintings to postage stamps.

And yet, it is currently being hunted to extinction, its habitat vastly reduced. I have every respect for the rural population of our nation that shoot Jaguars which threaten their livestock or families, and that is entirely understandable, absolutely nothing wrong with that. Those who kill our national symbol needlessly is another matter. I know of one man, the Latvian-born Sasha Siemel, who during the last decade has become famous in Brazil for killing - according to his own count - over three hundred Jaguars for no reason! And Theodor Roosevelt, that old fiend, killed two our proud Jaguars in 1913-1914, turning them into rugs which he brought back to the United States!

Something should be done. I am hesitant to ban the hunting of Jaguars entirely, for the reasons noted above, and likewise hesitant to completely eliminate the minor but destructive foreign trade in rugs, pelts and what not, but certain measures to preserve this emblem of indigenous, Brazilian culture is quite reasonable. Hence...

The Save the Jaguar Bill

Whereas it has become a popular sport for foreign citizens to without any restriction hunt and kill unlimited amounts of Jaguars,

Whereas the habitat and population of this Brazilian national symbol is rapidly declining due to overhunting,

• Section 1. Every foreign citizen who wishes to hunt the Jaguar (Panthera Onca) shall be required to apply for a time-limited hunting licence from the wildlife department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, which shall hold the right to restrict the number of animals the hunter may kill.

• Section 2. Foreign citizens shall be prohibited from exporting Jaguar (Panthera Onca) pelts, claws, teeth, and other items or products deriving from said animal. The right to export said wares shall be restricted to Brazilian citizens, and each Brazilian citizen shall be restricted to exporting no more than one hundred (100) individual pelts or skins per year unless an export permit is granted from the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce.

• Section 3. The wildlife department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce shall commence a minor scientific study of the viability of in the future instituting protected natural reserves intended for the preservation of the Jaguar (Panthera Onca), the results of which shall be submitted to the Brazilian National Congress for evaluation.

• Section 4. This bill shall go into effect thirty-one (31) days after passage.

[LordMoose]

We think that before we even allow people to hunt these jaguars [citizens or not] we should first put together a report or gather some data on weather the species as a whole could handle being hunted at current rate or treaty rates

Until we have this data we should not take action on allowing any to be killed for sport. I purpose a TEMPOARY ban on the sport of Jaguar Hunting until we have this data, both for the ability of our grandkids being able to see these great beasts and for the protection of natural resources that go along with there ranges

[acecipher]

We definitely agree with the sentiment of this bill. The United States itself passed the Lacey Act 29 years ago restricting the trade of their national bird; we should not hesitate to secure the existence of the Jaguar and their future for our children.

We wish to add an amendment to section 2 of this bill, as we worry of the ease with which a conspiracy may be made to export well over the number of pelts allowed by law, simply by grabbing another man off the street:

Whereas such individuals who would wish to export over 100 pelts per year should apply to receive a permit for their increased quota:

Section 4. The act of hiring another citizen to launder pelts onto foreign markets will be in violation of this ordinance. The launderer will be subject to the full penalties of violating this ordinance; the mule will be subject to one-fifth the time awarded to the launderer for their share of involvement in any smuggling operation.

We would be happy to see a tariff placed upon the export of pelts as well, as a form of excise tax, and to open up possible funding sources; however, we will pursue this as a separate bill.

[Flamelord]

Should the previously proposed amendment to the bill be added, I would be in complete agreement with this Bill. If we dally too long then it may be too late, and that is not the sort of legacy we should leave for our children.

[LordMoose]

we also [along with the above issues] fear that the population of the Jaguar might not be large enough to support 100 kills/year/person. we would suggest getting the data on how many are left/reproduce per year before stating a limit on how many can be hunted

[Smyg]

The data, surely, should come after the study to be carried out by the Ministry, as noted in the bill proposal.

In regards to loopholes, this bill is merely intended as a temporary blockade against the most rampant sport hunting, until we - as suggested by our Liberator and Social Democratic colleagues - can establish a more comprehensiveness protection bill in the future, once the situation has been evaluated. Clamping completely down on the trade in jaguar skins at this moment would be unlikely to find bipartisan support.

Spoiler

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(((OOC: Some Wikipedia background.

The skins of wild cats and other mammals have been highly valued by the fur trade for many decades. From the beginning of the 20th-century Jaguars were hunted in large numbers, but over-harvest and habitat destruction reduced the availability and induced hunters and traders to gradually shift to smaller species by the 1960s. The international trade of jaguar skins had its largest boom between the end of the Second World War and the early 1970, due to the growing economy and lack of regulations. From 1967 onwards, the regulations introduced by national laws and international agreements diminished the reported international trade from as high as 13000 skins in 1967, through 7000 skins in 1969, until it became negligible after 1976, although illegal trade and smuggling continue to be a problem. During this period, the biggest exporters were Brazil and Paraguay, and the biggest importers were the USA and Germany.

Just for the record.)))

[Flaming Bolshevik]

The Ação Integralista Brasileira (3) supports this bill.

[Luc]

Sebastião do Rego Barros, President of the Chamber of Deputies

If there are no members of the house against such measure, we will now entertain an official vote on this bill.

[LordMoose]

The PL will not give support or reject this bill and will allow our members to vote on there own term (OCC use a random numbers generator)

[Smyg]

The Communist Party of Brazil (4) naturally vote yes.

[Flamelord]

We are prepared to vote, however we wish for it to be made clear whether the proposed amendment that would include a clause 4 is to be included in the bill we are currently voting upon first, as that was left with some doubt from previous statements

[Smyg]

Very well. Apologies for the lack of clarity. Let's say that it is the amended bill.

[acecipher]

We support the amended bill with our 27 votes.

[Westar]

The National Liberal Alliance (70) votes in favour of the current bill.

[Flamelord]

The Federal Union Party (93) votes Yes on the proposal currently up for vote