by his father's brother's mother's daughter's wife's Nile monitor.

Half of my intended discussion is on environmental consequences. The other half, which has taken little address, is that of the legal ramifications that may come of such "establishments" as Nile monitors.

Florida is a hub of reptile import, expos, and cheap reptile sales. This makes "problem" (i.e., what I was referring to as man-eating in a tongue-in-cheek manner) species darned easy to get in the state. Hence, more releases will occur.

We have seen how successful the public hype over Nile monitors became. We hear man-eating and grin inside. Chihuahua owners hear such nomenclature and snuggle their life purpose close to their chests. They outnumber us. I don't have a figure on how much funding has been directed towards the trapping program, but fewer than a hundred lizards caught in three years? That sounds like a lot of wasted resources. Are they trying to CONTROL Nile monitor numbers or ERADICATE them? Will they ever be truly eradicatable with any person still able to keep the species (and thus release the species)? The answer here is obvious. If control is the justification, it is truly a waste. If eradication is the purpose, it will never be possible so long as Niles are kept in Florida (and even if they weren't legal to keep...).

The one scenario in which I can agree with trying to tackle any invasive with such effort is in trying to "salvage" a native species endemic to the affected area, for which no protected-breeding campaign is known. You know, as with all those island birds down in New Zealand. Most cases as these will prove 100% futile, but I hold that a good fight to save any vanishing species (not just glamorous ones with pretty patterns or brilliant feathers) is justifiable, even if completely impractical.

Unfortunately, the public of Florida will not care that Niles are not proved to threaten any native species (let alone any endemic species). They will want protective legislation passed to guard against such introductions in the future. So we're back to how many more releases can occur before some species triggers a legal backlash for Floridian monitor owners.

On a warm day in south Florida, which are many (and increasing each year?), I don't know that there's such an enormous margin between the amount of prey consumption between varanids and cats/dogs. Ben

[ Show Entire Thread ]