DESERT DISPATCH (Barstow, California) 15 June 03 High Desert poaching is big business - Plants, rocks and reptiles fall prey to illegal trade (Nikki Cobb)
Victorville: When most people think of poaching, they imagine big game hunters armed with rifles, taking down elephants or tigers in far away wildlands.
So it may come as a surprise that poaching is big business here in the High Desert, with everything from rocks to rattlesnakes being illegally taken for commercial gain.
"This region has some world-class areas that people around the world know," particularly for plants and reptiles, said Mike McBride of the California Department of Fish and Game. "Poaching goes on everywhere."
A plant for all reasons
"Most people don't think of plants as being poachable," said Jim Dodson of the California Desert Protection League. "But oddly enough, plants are a major concern in the desert."
Dodson said two varieties of cactus are sought for various reasons. The fishhook cactus is popular with collectors for its beauty and because it is rare. The barrel cactus is also prized by landscapers.
"There was a big problem with fishhook cactus being dug up in the Helendale area about 10 years ago," Dodson said. "People were digging them up and selling them to collectors."
Barry Nelson of the Bureau of Land Management said there are two types of poachers: People taking wildlife for their own personal use and those taking things for commercial purposes.
"We had a case in the Mojave desert between Barstow and Vegas where a huge group of people were taking large amounts of barrel cactus," Nelson said. "They were using them to make candy, cactus candy unique to Hispanics."
Endangered tortoises
A variety of reptile species are vulnerable to poaching. Hobbyists, collectors and the pet trade have created a huge demand for lizards and snakes, some of which are tremendously profitable.
"As far as cash value, the industry is second only to illegal drug smuggling and the drug industry," Nelson said. "To sell to local pet stores, some in large quantity for international smuggling, most often to Asian countries."
"Certain Asian cultures use certain critters for delicacies for food," he continued.
The Hmong and other East Asian cultures sometimes serve soup made from desert tortoises at wedding banquets according to Kyle Chang, a Fish and Game warden and an expert on poaching.
Other times people unintentionally break the law by "rescuing" a tortoise that may have wandered into the road. Once handled by humans, a tortoise can't be released into the wild because doing so can spread disease, Chang said.
Reptile poaching rattles officials
Chang said one of his biggest concerns is illegal capture of lizards and snakes.
The only local native reptiles allowed with a commercial breeding permit are the rosy boa, gopher snakes and the California king snake, he said.
"It's a lucrative business. If people don't get caught they can make a lot of money," on reptiles, Chang said. "The rarer something is the more people want it."
Chang reported that rosy boas, which can vary in color from region to region and which are known for their beauty and good disposition, can fetch $20 to $40 from a pet shop, which then sells them for $60 to $100.
Gila monsters, one of just two venomous lizards in the world, are worth up to $2,000 on the black market. They're rare, Chang said, and difficult to catch because they spend much of the year in burrows, emerging in the spring to feed.
Chang said there's no license required to capture a rattlesnake, and each individual is allowed to own up to two apiece of the seven species. However, they can't be sold or bred, so often rattlers are sold out of state for their meat or their hide.
Reptile poachers often work at night, cruising the roads for lizards and snakes that stretch out on the sunbaked asphalt to soak up the warmth. Nelson said the penalties for poaching vary from a misdemeanor citation to five years in prison for illegally taking an endangered species.
Legal hunters and reputable pet store owners are careful to dissociate themselves from poachers. Patty Sutton, owner of Patty's Critter Collection in Hesperia, said she sells a wide variety of reptiles, but deals only with suppliers she knows are legitimate.
"We don't take reptiles people have collected. No way," Sutton said. "It's against the law. Everybody pretty much knows our policy, so they don't even try."
McBride says hunters are to poachers what commuters are to drunken drivers. There are legal and ethical ways to approach any activity, he said, whether it's taking wildlife or piloting a car.
"We do not like to be painted with the same brush as poachers," said Bill Tidwell of the California Hunter Education Association. "The ethical hunter is not going to disobey the law."
"Personally, I have reported suspected poachers," Tidwell said.
High Desert poaching is big business

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