236 J Maher and T Wyatt influenced these responses but, crucially, that it is seldom the central focus In practical terms, these responses aim to reduce IWT offences and protect species rather than individual wildlife victims Consequently, enforcement agencies are commonly ‘fire-fighting’; responding after significant harms occur, many of which will be irreversible Political Mobilisation and Support The 1975 CITES convention, a flagship international wildlife agreement, united governments worldwide in regulating the wildlife trade and protecting threatened species Subsequently, however, limited political mobilisation has impeded their response (impacting negatively on legislation, enforcement, prosecution, sentencing and societies response) It is only in recent years, with growing concerns over biodiversity loss and the widespread consequences of the trade, that political mobilisation involving global and international entities and consortiums, national governments and civil society (for example, Bangkok 16 CITES and London IWT Conference), through international declarations, resolutions and operations, has renewed political momentum and enhanced policy responses The scale and nature of problems associated with the IWT are now widely recognised, however, the focus remains anthropocentric, regarding the harms—such as the loss of iconic species—as affecting humans, rather than the individual animals Political support for protecting wildlife is thus limited until this focus expands to include the environmental costs to ecosystems and the animals themselves (Maher and Sollund 2016) Legislation The CITES convention requires the 180 Member State parties to monitor and regulate the wildlife trade through dedicated domestic legislation based on the three aforementioned lists—Appendix I, II and III—which respectively ban, regulate and monitor trade However, member states not share common domestic IWT legislation, creating opportunities for fractures and loopholes which impact upon the effectiveness of CITES The UK, for example, under the EU Council Regulations (338/97), provides a more robust national implementation of CITES through the Control of Trade in Endangered Species [COTES] (1997) The CITES appendices are