Now thats what I wanted to here! Tortoises in Florida were the first reptile that the gov. tryed to make illegal. The case of the Heartwater Tic. The Herp. industry won that one by conviencing the Gov.and Cattle Ind. (BIG BUCKS)that the tortoises people would go underground in a black market and then they would lose control of the spread of the Tic. We (herp com.)proposed to police ourself on the tic issue. I'm not sure we could win that same case now. The Sulcuta is the "Grate Dane" of the reptile market. PETA and the HSUS WILL JUMP ON THIS for that reason. They will clame all kinds of things like released tortoises eating endangered plants or bugs etc. They will work Globle Warming into it like with the Pythons. Another reason is that HSUS has openly stated they are out to "OUTLAW ALL REPTILES." They get millions of dollors and care for NO animals. They pay lobbist tons of money and make and change law. They do this blantently even though its against the rules of their 501 c 3 Tax status. If we as a reptile community dont stand up against any reptile thats on the chopping block now, it will be other reptiles like tortoises later. They dont need a good reason. They are in POWER now,and excepted as serious supporters of our new Post America Administration. One other thing about the myth that all the Pythons being released by pet owners. HURRICANE ANDREW caused a mass release of Pythons all at once.(tens of thousands)All Burmese Pythons found in the Everglades were found to be by FSU bio. dept.from TWO gene pools. People have had pet Pythons for the last 40 years and they never colonised. There has never been a arrest or sitation for releasing a reptile in the history of the F.F.W.Com. Thanks for responding as I was quite disappointed in a "no show" on any post on this matter on the tortoise forum. Vic Morgan pic caption....Beware of my owner

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