Posted by:
ChrisAnderson
at Fri Jun 15 09:44:51 2007 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ChrisAnderson ]
>>Yeah, i understand that, but it just seems to me that if you are going to have a ban like this, it would probably be a good idea to also help the animal. I understand that the country is not in a financial position to help much of their long endangered species list. But wouldnt it make sense to allow a reputable breeder in the US to WC a couple of examples in order to build interest in the plight of the Minor's? AT least that way they loose a couple of animals to the pet trade, but it turn it raises awareness and support in a country that might be able to affect the status of the wild animals.
This works very well for charismatic mega-fauna like pandas but relatively few individuals in the public setting would find a small chameleon significantly distinct from any other lizard to warrant extra protection or funds. For something like this to possibly work or seem appealing to wildlife management authorities, it would have to be in a zoological setting where the most individuals would be able to see the specimens and possibly take an interest. This is rarely the best place for breeding or even maintaining even the hardiest of chameleons.
What needs to happen is there needs to be a continued growth in protected habitats in Madagascar where species like this live. Thankfully, over recent years, a number of new parks have been established, but there is always need for more. Once these parks have been established, then there might be significant enough protection to show that limited trade wouldn't significantly impact wild populations and in theory, the CITES ban could be lifted. Will this ever happen? Probably not but as horrible as it is, would you prefer to have a species disappear because we didn't stop removing unreasonable numbers from the wild or because habitat wasn't set aside fast enough? Obviously the end result is the same but I don't want to be the reason for their extinction or be a part of speeding up the process by pulling them from their limited populations while habitat continues to decrease...
What is the best thing that we can do in situations like this? 1) Don't by animals you aren't qualified to maintain successfully. If you aren't experienced enough to work with WC specimens, don't support bringing in such large numbers by purchasing them. If you aren't experienced enough to work with a particular species, leave them to someone who is and hopefully minimize loses of that species in captivity. 2) Support research efforts focusing on the countries of origin for these species. This research doesn't need to be directly chameleon related as protection of habitats occurs fastest in areas that show a wide diversity of vulnerable or unique inhabitants, not just chameleons.
There are many species in Madagascar and other countries that are incredible and that most hobbyists have hardly seen. The pet trade is not the answer to conserving them, unfortunately and if we are going to continue to maintain them in captivity, it requires us to make efforts and "sacrifices" in order to prevent our impact from leading to extinctions.
Chris
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Chris Anderson
parsonii_hoehnelii@hotmail.com
Co-Founder: ChameleonInfo.com-http://www.chameleoninfo.com/
Editor: Chameleons! Online E-zine- http://www.chameleonnews.com/
Admin: Captive Chameleon Bloodline Tracking Database (CCBTD)- http://www.chameleondatabase.com/
Founder: Chameleon Care and Information Center (CCIC)- http://www.chamaeleonidae.com/
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RE: Furcifer minor - ChrisAnderson, Fri Jun 15 09:44:51 2007