This is definitely a controversial topic, and I'm wondering where the average pet owner, and breeder, stands on the subject.
I'm not timid about my opinion; I firmly believe taking, supporting the trade, and/or buying species taken from the wild is a terrible idea, and a bad precedent. It has been made illegal with exotic birds, because the bird trade created such a massive decline in species populations, with many species now endangered (and receive no real protection in their native countries). Now worldwide herp populations are on the decline, and the U.S. is the no.1 importer of them.
I have tried to find a pet store in my area that only sells animals bred in captivity, and I have discovered that this is impossible to find. (This is one big reason why I support buying from breeders, instead of pet stores, although I regrettably admit I'm as guilty of doing so as the next person.)For example, I would have loved to purchase a Uromastyx, but I was told that they are a difficult species to breed in captivity, and evey animal I saw was taken from the wild! I couldn't believe that I was seeing shops where the employees BRAGGED that their chameleons were "straight from Madagascar"! As a former consultant for Fish and Wildlife, I am not shy about making a call about questionable importers, and neither should you be (especially regarding fishy breeders who seem to sell a lot of species the have 'bred', but don't have the breeding facilities, or adult breeders, to show for it.) I am not intedning to create paranoia - on the contrary, I think conscientious, captive breeders are what can help save the wild populations - just a reminder to be very discerning about who you pay for your pets. Besides, a lot of animals that have made the trip, as imports, are not healthy by the time they are sol.
Having lived and worked in many countires in South America, I have seen first hand the effect that the import/export market has on species. For example, in Venezuela, in the area we lived (where hunting was prohibited green iguanas were like squirrels - abundant, large, fat, and if I amy anthropomorphize, appearing content. (The one that ate my entire garden was very content).
In contrast, when I was in Costa Rica, and parts of Ecuador, and especially Belize, I noticed that in places where green iguanas should have been very abundant, it was difficult, and rare, to see even one. The rare adult animal I did see was small and pathetic looking, i.e. probably not the best harbinger of great genes for the species. This was due in part to hunting, but to amuch great extent - now - due to the pet export trade. Even the "breeders" who are natives and that sell animals "bred" in captivity" in their native countries are usually totally honest about the deal; they are typically "bred" from eggs, or offspring, taken from the wild. One would think that iguanas being so abundant, they would do fine with some hunting/export pressures. But they don't. This is just one example. So what happens to populations of species already less extensive than, say, green iguanas? Where I lived, to see any toroise was rare - the pressures to eat them, and export them, put them (in this case, red-footed torts) immediately on the endagered species "list". And now - over the past decade - they are learning that exporting gets a lot more money that selling one for food. The sights I have witnessed at black markets - and even legal ones - are enough to make you really angry.
Herps are particularly easy to export illegally, because their the feeding/water requirements allow them to be easily hidden. Still, when I researched this issue, TRAFFIC reports and others mentioned staggering numbers of mortalities of lizards, snakes, and torts from exportation. For example, often only 10% of the baby green iguanas survive the trip, many die in transit or within a week of arriving. (Most people probably don't know that baby greens need to eat the poop of their parents - they do this for at least a week after hatching - to get the necessary bacteria they need to digest their food; no wonder so many pet babies get sick!)
The data shows that the most popular animals to import - legally - include green iguanas: 3.5 MILLION imported back in 1996), ball pythons (500,000 in '96), boa constrictors, Savanna monitor lizard, senegal chameleons (51,000 in '96!) retics, green tree pythons...no one can argue that these popular species are hard to breed in captivity (heck, green iguanas are breeding in the wilds of Florida). The import trade is easy money.
Reptile smuggling is a high-profit criminal enterprise, and the United States is its largest market, and in addition legal imports are a good cover for the illegal trade. A Komodo dragon, tuatara, or ploughshare tortoise can each fetch about $30,000 in the illegal trade. Thousands can also be made from Boelen's pythons, Timor pythons, green tree pythons, etc. 1997, the United States LEGALLY imported 1.8 million live reptiles worth more than $7 million.
So, I guess the moral of this story is to buy ONLY animals bred in captivity, no matter what the species, no matter how much you may want that animal as a pet - no pet is worth endangering the population of the species, and goodness knows in today's world there are ALREADY enough pressures already on wildlife: development, poaching, pollution, etc...Even if you can't resist a pet store that offers wild caught animals, at least do not purchase those animals, since doing so would promote the decline of their populations in the wild.
thanks for letting me rant
Renee
P.s. Plus a pic of happily breeding captive bred torts
