Reptile & Amphibian Forums

There really SHOULD be a Texas regulation concerning the release of captive native animals. This is actually another place the herpers can show we care about the native wildlife -- promote a prohibition on the release of any native or non-native herps. The reasons are probably obvious to everyone but to list a few:
--contamination of gene pool
--introduction of non-native viruses, bacteria, parasites
--potential cruelty to captive-raised animals (I am throwing this in even though I don't really think it is the case).

Joe: I wonder if this ought to be included in the various legislator discussions underway? Just a thought. Arizona has such a regulation mainly because the right people listened to a VERY knowledgeable vet here who also loves herps. My 2 cents today! --Henry

I'd support a regulation stating that certain guidelines had to be observed. Such as, release must be within 48 hours and within a certain distance of capture.
OR
1. Release must be supervised or approved by a professional herpetologist.
2. Release must be within a certain distance of capture site of the released animal or its wild predecessors.
3. Released animal must have been quarantined for the entirety of its captivity, or certified as free of pathogens by a veterinarian.
4. Release must be at a time, date, and location to maximize survival.
These guidelines are off the top of my head and probably need some revision

Of course, any such regulation would be almost impossible to enforce. But, proposing and passing them would put us ahead of TPWD in regard to conservation.

Also, if we word it as applying to “wildlife”, not just “native wildlife”, it would also serve as a ban on releasing non-native wildlife. It would be great fun to get HH to pass this and THEN point out that it applies to Aoudads, Axis Deer, Black Bucks, and the other non-native mammals he likes to release and hunt.

You make some good points. I agree that there should be a time and distance component. I enjoy photographing herps and the regulation I proposed would have limited that! I really do think it would be a good thing for the TPW to put into place. --Henry

I know that many folks "catch and release" simply to get good during the day photos of an animal found at night. No harm there..

The worry is with genetic transplants and introducing pathogens... If the individual animal makes it or not is a small concern compared to the damage a population could sustain.

Lance

There has never been any research done that has proved captive born or otherwise has wiped out or diseased the wild populations. Please don't go this route Lance!

Wayne

If I'm thinking straight, there's lots of literature discussing upper respiratory disease syndrome (URDS) in wild populations of desert tortoises in the Mojave Desert. URDS is/was thought to have originated in captive raised tortoises released back into the wild. If I have the story right, native populations were decimated by URDS.
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travis
austin, tx

Tortoise Upper Respiratory Disease Syndrome.

I'm talking snakes!

Wayne

I just think that will work out better for us to make all herps a goal.

Lance