A trade ban is looming for two endangered otter species after some 100 countries voted to increase protections following a social-media fuelled craze for acquiring the silky mammals as pets. Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted overwhelmingly in Geneva Sunday to place the smooth-coated otter on the treaty's most endangered list. Conservationists hailed the vote, insisting a trade ban was vital for the survival of the two species, which have seen numbers in the wild plummet by at least 30 percent in the past 30 years.
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