"Far-reaching" changes to conservation policies would pave the way for "hunters, circuses, and the pet industry to kill, capture, and import animals on the brink of extinction in other countries," Shankar Vedantam reports in this Sunday front-pager. Bush administration officials say they see the move as helping poor countries pay to better conserve their remaining survivors. "Conservationists think it's a bad idea," Vedantam reports. Possible takes mentioned by name: the endangered straight-horned markhor of Pakistan, the blue-fronted Amazon parrot from Argentina; endangered Asian elephants for circuses and zoos; and at least partially renewed trade in African ivory. "No U.S. endangered species would be affected," Vedantam reports. Administration officials from Interior and Fish and Wildlife Service say they are merely considering implementing a seldom-used provision of the existing Endangered Species Act and see such a move as "absolutely consistent" with the law. Interior Assistant Secretary David P. Smith said, "I think the nature of the beast is such that there are critics who are going to claim some kind of ulterior motive." Critics -- animal welfare advocates largely -- say those harvesting from foreign countries and those standing to gain financially would be in charge of setting kill and capture rates and warn that poaching would increase. (See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10660-2003Oct10?language=print)