Although Daniel could possibly be wrong when it comes to those that enter the US, as Harold pointed out, Daniel is right on target when it comes to the Asian trade (what I have seen on this side of the ocean by the large number of hatchling V. beccari last year) and Europe, where EU legislation causes this by demanding that monitors be captive bred. With their quota set at zero this year, there have not been too many moving out of Indonesia lately.

As for what happened in Guam, it was a result of a closed eco-system in which Boiga irregularis was not a regular prey item of any other species and only an occasional prey item of wild/feral pigs (which are not much of a danger to an arboreal species) and Varanus indicus, which in turn are a prey item of Boiga irregularis when they are young. These large populations of Boiga irregularis do not exist in their native New Guinea, where they have a number of predators. I was in Guam when many of the studies were conducted (1989-1991) concerning the problem of Boiga irregularis and would be happy to try to answer any questions you might have concerning the problem of Boiga irregularis on Guam, although most of the studies were published after I had already left, so most are not in my possession.

One of the MANY specimens that I collected while I was in Guam.

Cheers,
Michael

[ Show Entire Thread ]