Guam Bat Imports (GUAMBAT)

          CASE NUMBER:          111 
          CASE MNEMONIC:      GUAMBAT
          CASE NAME:          Guam Bat Imports

A.        IDENTIFICATION
1.        The Issue
     People in Guam eat bats and in large quantities.  Because of
the island's location the bat serves a number of purposes in the
island's environment that elsewhere are held by other species.  The
bats provide roles both as pollinators and as insect predators and
are key ingredients in the local eco-system.  Bats are eaten
especially on ceremonial occasions and, with many people from Guam
living in the United States, and often sent to relatives as a
reminder of home.  Demand has significantly reduced Guam's bat
population and now Guam imports large quantities of bats from other
countries in the western Pacific region.
2.        Description
     At the south end of the Marianas archipelago, between the
Marshall Islands and the Philippines, is the island of Guam.  The
native people of Guam, however, have a peculiar practice which is
generally unknown to most people in the West: they eat bats, which
in considered a delicacy, on special occasions such as weddings or
festivals.  There is just one problem: the bats on Guam, which help
to control insect populations and disperse seeds, have become
endangered.  Though they are more scarce, and are legally
protected, they are still quite popular. 
     Guam measures 214 square miles.   The island's habitat varies
from swordgrass in the south to more diverse vegetation in the
north, referred to as "typhoon forest".   The island's total
population in 1990 was 133,000 people, the distribution in 1980 was
approximately 45 percent Chamorros (the native people), 25 percent
white, and 21 percent Filipino.  The Chamorros are believed to have
arrived on the island around the year 3000 B.C., subsisting on
agriculture and fishing.  The Marianas Fruit Bats are endemic to
the Guam. 
       Sold in markets or on roadside stands at the cost of $40-50
(September 1993) the bats are usually boiled and eaten in their
entirety (even the fur).  Some even consider the bat a sort of
national symbol of the people of the island, though it is more
comparable to the turkey than the bald eagle in the United States. 
Bats are also an important part of the process of spreading seeds
and cross pollinating a large number of plant species in the
island, making them very important to the island's ecosystem.  The
bats themselves are vulnerable because of the slow rate at which
they reproduce: one pup per year.
     The practice of eating the bats has continued for millennia. 
Hunting and trapping have reduced the numbers so much that there
are now only about 500 bats for more than 50,000 Chamorros.  In
fact, bats are now being imported to Guam to meet the local demand
for the animals.  From 1975 through 1988, over 200,000 bats were
imported to Guam, and in 1989 alone, over 17,000 bats were
brought into Guam.  From 1980 to 1986, up to 18,000 bats were
shipped to Guam from Western Samoa.
     In addition to being eaten by people, the plight of the bats,
and other wildlife on the island has been further complicated by
the presence of the brown tree snake,  which was brought to the
island previous to World War II.  The snake, which grows to around
six feet in length is having an easy time preying on bats and birds
which had never before needed to learn to avoid the snakes.  There
are plans to introduce a predator to reduce the snake presence, but
no decision has yet been made.  Current alternatives would be as
much a danger to birds and bats as to snakes.
     Education appears to have a significant relationship with the
perception of the fruit bat as culturally significant.  93 percent
of the respondents who claim the significance of the fruit bats,
had not gone beyond an elementary education.
     The survey also found that there is a significant relationship
between age and both the practice of eating bats and the claim that
the bats have cultural value.  Over three quarters of the
respondents over 45 years of age said that the fruit bats provided
cultural identity, versus less than half for those under 45. 
This could indicate that the practice of eating the fruit bats is
declining in the population.  If the younger people are not
interested in fruit bats, the practice may simply not continue. 
However, Sheeline notes that there is an apparent growth in
"...interest among younger Chamorros in their cultural heritage."
     Interestingly, Sheeline's report found that many Chamorros
engaged in outdoor activities (hiking, reef fishing, camping,
etc.), and felt that the protection of wildlife was important. 
Moreover, respondents claimed that fruit bat poachers should go to
jail or be fined.
     With regard to protection of the wildlife, 95 percent of the
respondents thought that wildlife should be protected.  However,
of the total number of respondents, 53 percent said that they enjoy
eating bats.  This illustrates an interesting paradox: 
respondents who affirmed concern for the environment and for
endangered species, would likely engage in the practice that
contradicts their feelings regarding conservation.  Assuming that
the respondents are being honest about the conservation, this is a
strong example of how personal identification with culture through
a cultural act can supersede identification with the natural
environment.
     Protection of bats on Guam is problematic due to difficulties
with enforcement.  In 1989, two of the species of bats on the Guam
were added to the 1973 Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (CITES) at the Seventh Meeting of the Parties to
the Convention.  However, Palau, a neighboring island, is the
biggest source of Guam's imported bats (the trade in bats between 
1975 and 1988 reached more than 99,000).  The United States
Department of the Interior considers trade between the two islands
to be domestic.  Therefore, since CITES does not apply, it would
require an invocation of the Lacey Act, prohibiting transport
across state lines of animals taken in violations of the laws of
the state or country whence they originated, to stop the flow of
bats.  This creates problems for enforcement, since it must be
proved that the bats succumbed to illegal practice in that other
country.
     Moreover, although the U.S. is a signatory to CITES, which now
has over one hundred signatories, the enforcement of legislation
protecting wildlife on the island could raise concern because the
eating of bats is a cultural activity of some popularity on Guam,
and the demand, which will likely continue at least into the near
future, could be filled by any one who wanted to earn a profit from
contraband bats.  The enforcement of unpopular laws could also be
difficult, especially elsewhere in the Marianas.  Cultural
orientation of indigenous peoples, kinship groups and small
communities, may be an obstacle to that enforcement.  This could
be particularly difficult if, as Sheeline suggests, there is a
resurgence of interest in cultural heritage in younger Chamorros.
     This is a case where the culture, in its destruction of a
species is ultimately self-defeating.  It is because of the
cultural stimuli, in addition to culinary appeal, that the
Chamorros eat the bats.  When the bats are gone from Guam, however,
they will be very difficult to obtain and will be increasingly
expensive.
3.        Related Cases
     Keyword Clusters         
     (1): Trade Product            = BAT
     (2): Bio-geography            = TROPical
     (3): Environmental Problem    = Species Loss Air [SPLA]
4.        Draft Author: Andrew Hamm
B.        LEGAL Clusters
5.        Discourse and Status:  DISagreement and INPROGress
6.        Forum and Scope:  USA and UNILATeral
7.        Decision Breadth:  1 (USA)
8.        Legal Standing:  LAW
C.        GEOGRAPHIC Clusters
9.   Geographic Locations
     a.   Geographic Domain : PACIFIC
     b.   Geographic Site   : Western Pacific [WPAC]
     c.   Geographic Impact : USA
     The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has annexed land to create
wildlife preserves on the north and south sides of the island to
protect the bats, as well as numerous species of birds.  This has
met with resistance from the government on the island, as well as
private investors who own part of the land designated for use as
refuge.  Moreover, the redesignation of this land would effect
military plans to use Guam as an alternative to bases in Okinawa
and the Philippines.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would
like to place a ranger on the island to enforce the protection of
the refuges but there is not enough money.
10.       Sub-National Factors:  YES
     Guam is under the jurisdiction of the United States.
11.       Type of Habitat:  TROPical
D.        TRADE Clusters
12.       Type of Measure:  Import Standard [IMSTD]
13.       Direct vs. Indirect Impacts:  DIRect
14.       Relation of Measure to Environmental Impact
     a.  Directly Related     : YES  BAT
     b.  Indirectly Related   : NO
     c.  Not Related          : NO
     d.  Process Related      : YES  Species Loss Land [SPLL]
15.       Trade Product Identification:  BAT
16.       Economic Data
17.       Impact of Measure on Trade Competitiveness:  HIGH
18.       Industry Sector:  FOOD
19.       Exporter and Importer:  GUAM and Western Samoa [SAMOA]
E.        ENVIRONMENT Clusters
20.       Environmental Problem Type:  Species Loss Air [SPLA]
     Loss of large areas of habitat, in general, are cause for
concern because this places stress on the species of the habitat
itself, and well as on neighboring habitats.  Maser describes
species in the context of their habitat as integral to a feedback
loop which supports the health of an ecosystem.  The environmental
milieu provides food for the animals that live there, and these
animals in turn participate in the recycling of calories, minerals,
and seeds as well as controlling potentially dangerous organisms
through ecology (consuming insects or other pests for food) and
behavior (taking food elsewhere to eat).  Loss of the bats in Guam
could tip the balance of natural cycles in a destructive way.  But
how will the Chamorros be effected by the consequences of the
banning of cultural practice in Guam?  In this respect, Chamorro
culture remains at risk whether or not the fruit bats are
ultimately saved.
21.       Name, Type, and Diversity of Species 
          Name:          Beetle
          Type:          Animal/Mandible/Insect
          Diversity:     NA
22.       Impact and Effect:  LOW and PRODuct
23.       Urgency and Lifetime:  MEDIUM and 1-3 years
24.       Substitutes:  LIKE products
VI.       OTHER Factors
25.       Culture:  YES
     The methods of destruction of habitat and species are not
solely the result of rapid industrialization and a need for
economic expansion into new markets.  Indigenous peoples, recently
highly regarded as the sentinels of frontline environmental
protection, also contribute to the extinction of plants and
animals.  Sometimes this is driven by the need to accelerate
economic activity to reach production levels of more industrialized
countries, but it can also occur as a result of culturally defined
behavior that seems natural to the people who engage in it.
     Cultural forces drive the consumption of the bats, which are
also called flying foxes.  A survey of Chamorros on Guam and found
that there was a strong attitude toward the fruit bat as having
(unspecified) "cultural" value: 82 percent of respondents claimed
this.  Sheeline also found a strong relationship between the act
of eating the fruit bat and the cultural significance of the bat. 
In the survey, three quarters of those who claimed that the bat had
cultural value, also said that they eat the animals.  Sheeline
concludes that the act of eating a fruit bat as providing cultural
identity is of a personal nature, while many Chamorros, whether or
not they eat fruit bat, thought that the fruit bat had some
culturally symbolic value.
26.       Trans-Border:  NO
27.       Rights:  NO
28.       Relevant Literature