The United States had proposed that polar bears be upgraded to Cites Appendix 1, meaning that no trade whatsoever could take place in their pelts, paws or fangs.

BBC: Polar bear trade ban vote defeated at meeting

Together they seek to sell 87 tons of stockpiled elephant ivory to international markets, with subsequent annual quotas totaling 13 tons. (100 tons of ivory represents roughly 5, 700 elephants, based on a measure of average tusk weight presented in the South African proposal.) In an opposing proposal, India and Kenya seek to tighten the existing ivory ban by returning elephants to the most protected CITES status (Appendix I).

NPR: Lifting the Ivory Ban Called Premature

Campaigners who had worked for decades to get these species listed in Appendix II of Cites said it was a landmark day.

BBC: Landmark shark ban upheld at conservation meeting

Polar bears have been listed under Appendix II of the CITES accords, which applies to species that are not currently threatened with extinction but may face it without restrictions on the trade of their body parts.

CNN: World rejects new protections for polar bears

We are supremely disappointed that so many Cites parties ignored the clear scientific evidence that justifies an uplisting of the species to Appendix I.

BBC: Polar bear trade ban vote defeated at meeting

After a tense debate, delegates voted by 92 votes to 42 to upgrade the Oceanic whitetip to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).

BBC: Cites meeting votes to protect Oceanic whitetip shark