The trade background and status of K. fischeri is complicated by its taxonomic history. Strictly speaking, annual CITES export quotas for K. fischeri between 2000 and 2013 have been fixed to 3,000 wild collected individuals and 10-400 (125-400 between 2000 and 2012) captive born individuals per year from Tanzania (CITES 2013a). Further, CITES Trade Data indicates that between 1977 and 2011 (2012 and 2013 trade data is incomplete or unavailable) a total of 78,801 live individuals were exported from Tanzania for the pet trade (total of all undeclared, captive breeding, personal and commercial exports), of which 1,158 were reported as either captive bred or captive born (UNEP-WCMC 2013). All these individuals were exported from 1985 to 2011, with the captive bred or born individuals having been exported from 1999 to 2011, with the exception of a single export of captive bred individuals in 1995 (UNEP-WCMC 2013). An additional 336 individuals were reportedly exported from Kenya from 1980 to 2011 (6 individuals in 1980, 56 individuals in 2001, and 330 farmed or confiscated individuals in 2011) (UNEP-WCMC 2013).

In reality, virtually none of the individuals exported represent true Kinyongia fischeri (sensu Mariaux et al. 2008; Anderson personal observation). Instead, virtually all trade data reflects trade in K. multituberculata, K. matschiei, K. vosseleri and possibly K. tavetana and K. boehmei (Anderson, personal observation), which had previously been considered subspecies of K. fischeri. In fact, as few as three true K. fischeri have ever been exported for the pet trade (two in 2009 and one in 2010; Anderson, personal observation). Despite CITES recognizing the specific status of K. multituberculata, K. matschiei and K. vosseleri at CITES CoP15 in 2010 (CITES 2013b), K. multituberculata, K. matschiei and K. vosseleri continue to be issued permits and exported as K. fischeri (Anderson, personal observation), likely because of a failure of the Tanzanian CITES authority to issue annual export quotas for wild caught specimens of these species and continuing to issue quotas for K. fischeri (CITES 2013a) at levels in excess of what true K. fischeri can likely themselves withstand. Should trends in the issuance of quotas for these species continue, and collection for these quotas shift to represent actual K. fischeri, this species could be threatened by that collection for the trade.

References:

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 2013a. CITES Export Quotas. Available at: http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/quotas/index.php. (Accessed: 11 Aug 2013).
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 2013b. CITES Species Database. Available at: http://www.cites.org/eng/resources/species.html. (Accessed: 11 Aug 2013).
UNEP-WCMC. 2013. CITES Trade Database. Available at: http://www.unep-wcmc-apps.org/citestrade/expert_accord.cfm?CFID=50172297&CFTOKEN=72268891. (Accessed: 11 Aug 2013).