Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

This is my first time posting in this section. I am in Taiwan and recently aquired a fresh cobra skin immersed in ethanol (in a water bottle). Tomorrow I am flying Northwest Airlines back to the states and was wondering if anyone knows whether I can bring this bottle back? Would the snake or the ethanol be confiscated by customs? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Johnny

booo...

I just researched on a random customs information site and I guess you can't bring reptile hides over to the US, not even immersed in ethanol. If anyone can dispute this, please let me know. Thanks!

>>booo...
>>
>>I just researched on a random customs information site and I guess you can't bring reptile hides over to the US, not even immersed in ethanol. If anyone can dispute this, please let me know. Thanks!

Irrespective of ethanol etc., all Asian cobras are CITES-listed - you would need an export permit from Taiwan, and a CITES import permit from the US autorities.

I hope you did not pay money for that skin - all it does is encourage an often cruel and unsustainable trade in these aniamls, which are getting rarer in many parts of their range.

Cheers,

WW
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WW Home

Actually, and i'll probably get heat for this, my cousin saw it on a road and killed it. He has a famous restaurant way up in the mountains in the middle of bumble**ck, Taiwan and we were headed up to bbq in the middle of the night when we saw it.

He's actually very knowledgeable about them and even told me he knew they were protected. He said he's seen too many people get bitten while hiking at night or found ones in his bathroom. And they always kill them upon sight. I thought about it and wanted to argue: 1) Why would idiots hike in the mountain at night knowing there are cobras out? 2) It was just crossing the road and not doing anyone harm.

However, I put aside all my American-born reptile conservation bias and realized I'm this rich foreign kid who shouldn't have a say on how local businesses operate their lives here. People do get bitten as habitats collide and who was I to tell him not to protect his kids or customers? 5 years ago, I would've been more adamant about "correcting him."

The only merit I see in his action is he brought it back, skinned it, and made the meat into soup so effectively, he killed it for food, not just for fun.

Well... while I don't approve of killing the cobra, I have some sympathy for your cousin's viewpoint.

Few people in the so-called First World have any idea what it is like for people who have to co-exist with venomous snakes in tropical countries. I have certainly found again and again, often to my discomfort, that it is not at all difficult to find people who have lost relatives to snakebite snakebite in the tropics, without even looking. The views of a snake-loving foreigner don't always go down too well in those circles.

Cheers,

Wolfgang
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WW Home

I was out hiking in one of our state parks here in Ohio and saw this moron that was fishing chucking rocks at watersnakes. He managed to kill this one. This one died for no reason other than he just didnt like them. They weren't a safety threat or anything. Atleast the cobra was used for something afterwards so it's death wasn't completely for nothing.

Well said Wolfgang.

Al
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"Fighting on the forums is like competing in the Special Olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded."

DH June 2005