#wild caught

[orca-encyclopedia]

Sonya

pronounced son-yuh

Sonya is a roughly 13 year old Russian transient cow. She lives at chimelong spaceship and was captured from the sea of okhotsk in Russia during July 2015. She is a mother of 1 calf.

[salparadiselost]

Mermay Time Yall!

[space-blue]

cleaning my computer and found this very funny screen I caught on reddit in the wild:

[crevicedwelling]

I read your blog a little and didn’t consider the ecological consequences of keeping non captive breeding inverts, it for some reason didn’t click for me that this means they’re likely wild caught. It’s unfortunate this is a common enough practice in the US nobody really bats an eye at it, given that Orthoporus and Narceus americanus are 2 really common species kept as pets here… thanks for speaking up about it, I’m glad I know now

yep! blue death feigning beetles are another one that gets me a little worried every time I see huge tubs full of them on bug sellers’ pages. they make good pets* but are difficult to captive breed, so all those thousands are probably collected from the wild. maybe it would be okay if there was actual research on either of these species to show that their wild populations can withstand such collection, but unfortunately I don’t think either is studied well enough for that.

at least there are a few people out there who have managed to breed BDFBs, so even if the average pet keeper isn’t willing to make a breeding setup and manage larvae, there might be breeders in the future who can meet the demand and lessen the impact on wild beetles.

[omg-snakes]

Hi, so recently I talked with my father about having snakes (and/or other reptiles in general) His opinion is that snakes shouldn't be kept as pets and should be seen as wild animals. "By buying one, you'll be supporting the market." he said "Where do you think these snakes are coming from?" clearly aiming at wild caught snakes that were the ones who got in the market in the first place. On which I replied "But these snakes are already in the market, they're not wild caught." (1/2)

(2/2) My father replied "If there is something from which people can make money, they don'tcare if the snakes are wild caught, they will continue going until those forests are empty." I feel slightly ashamed of saying this, but there is a truth in this. This is one of the main reasons why I'm hesitate buying a snake. I can see his point and understand it. But what is your opinion, as a snake breeder, about this. Sorry for the long ask. Thanks 

Hey, so this is a whole can of worms and a full exploration of this topic is going to require that we delve into the ethics of keeping any and all animals as pets for any reason. I’m not interested in getting into all of that because it’s a huge and very divided topic, so let’s focus on the importance of buying captive bred instead of wild caught.

Yes, there are a lot of problems in the pet industry, including but not limited to reptiles, with wild catch and import/export. It’s big money and there are precious few laws to protect wild habitats and native populations of threatened species. As long as people want exotic pets, there will be people to catch them and sell them. So how do we combat this, aside from pushing local governments to protect habitats and ban export of wild-caught species? 

Simple. Shift demand.

To vastly oversimplify a very complex situation: Okay so let’s say that 20 people have decided that they want a snake and they’re absolutely set on getting one. Nobody will change their mind. One of those 20 people bought two snakes from an exporter who plucked these snakes from their wild habitat in accordance with local and international laws. The buyer knew what they were in for andthey got the snakes acclimated to captive life, they established a caresheet, they had them evaluated for health by a veterinarian and treated for parasites, and they were able to responsibly breed them and produce babies.

19 of those 20 people now have the opportunity to purchase captive-bred, healthy, well-established baby snakes. 1 out of those 20 people supported an exporter, but as a result there are now 19 people who have a choice to buy captive-bred.

So let’s go a step further and say that now we have an established captive population of this snake species, and color morphs start popping up. Now people not only want this species but they want Fancy Colors that are not available in nature. In the case of corn snakes and ball pythons, the number of wild animals collected is a teensy tiny percentage of the overall number of animals in the hobby because people would rather get a captive-bred morph than a parasite-laden wild caught “normal.”

This is all wildly anecdotal and hyperbolic, yeah, but the truth is that if we don’t establish captive populations (by legal means!!) then people will continue to buy wild caught animals, so we may as well establish and support captive populations. This has some other benefits, too, including conservation and the creation of carefully-managed “arks” that can help to re-establish a wild population in the face of habitat loss or similar catastrophes.

You, as a consumer, have a choice. 

You can choose to be the person who responsibly and legally imports a new species, researches and meets their needs in captivity, and helps to establish a captive population. 

You can choose to support the captive breeding effort by purchasing a captive-bred snake from a responsible breeder. 

You can choose to not keep reptiles.

All of these are perfectly acceptable choices.

Unacceptable choices include poaching or supporting poachers, impulse-buying species that you’re not equipped to care for, or attempting to demonize/ban all captive breeding efforts because you don’t believe in keeping animals in captivity. This is all very uncool, don’t do it.

[thlpp]

That Python in the Pet Store? It May Have Been Snatched From the Wild

Excerpts from a much longer New York Times article. Please read it in full at the link.

Gorgeous illustrations by R. Kikuo Johnson

Plucking animals from the wild is cheaper and easier than setting up a breeding operation. This is especially true for low-profit animals like Tokay geckos, which are traded at such high volumes that it would not make economic sense to invest in breeding them.

Generally, villagers capture animals in forests and fields, and sell them to middlemen who hand them off to legal reptile farms. The owners of the farms acquire government paperwork certifying that the animals were captive-bred.

In [the country of Indonesia] and many others, the most skilled traffickers in illegal wildlife, then, never need to smuggle anything. They simply apply for a permit and then ship the animals abroad legally.

Once a wild-caught animal is exported with paperwork certifying it as captive-bred, officials in countries like the United States have little choice but to allow it in.

“The infiltration of traffickers into the legal trade has been happening for many years,” said a senior specialist at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation from supervisors. “These animals show up here in declared shipments, and we can’t do anything about it.”

While customs agents can challenge a permit’s legitimacy, they have little chance of success, the official said. The cases are time-consuming and difficult, and prosecutors do not want them.

“Wildlife inspectors will open up a box and find a bunch of beat up, scarred tortoises that are 20 or 30 years old, with permits saying they were bred in captivity in 2016,” the official said. “But they’re forced by their supervisors to stamp ‘clear’ on the permit.”

“I know sometimes the traders bribe my staff,” said Wiranto, director general of conservation of natural resources and ecosystems. (Like many Indonesians, he uses only a first name.)

Mr. Wiranto, who was recently promoted, said he hopes to implement reforms, among them a more robust monitoring system that includes unannounced farm inspections, corruption prevention measures and collaborative investigations with importers like the United States.

“We’re in the process of learning from past mistakes, so in the future we won’t do the same,” he said. “The most important thing is to keep wildlife in its habitat.”

Not everyone agrees that uncontrolled harvest of wild reptiles is a problem. In certain instances, some traders say, collection of wild animals can be a boon for the species.

Bearded dragons, for example, are one of the most commonly sold lizards in the United States, where they are now captive-bred. All are likely descendants of specimens smuggled out of Australia. The offspring arguably have prevented the removal of animals in the wild.

Some scientists also argue that the pet trade’s impact on many species is negligible.

“In the Indonesian context, there’s a hell of a lot of snakes and reptiles out there, and for most species the issue of laundering through breeding farms is not resulting in negative impacts on populations,” said Daniel Natusch, a herpetologist at the University of Sydney.

But slowing the traffic in animals stolen from the wild cannot be the sole responsibility of developing countries. “We can’t only point fingers at Asia and Africa,” Dr. Altherr said, “if we’re one of the main destinations.”

Source: New York Times

[weird-on-wish]

Fresh caucasian babies and storage nets. Not housebroken.

[hxneybunni]

Please don't think all these videos online of people keeping things like tigers and chimpanzees in their homes is cute and fun and innocent 🥺 our suburban life style lacks the kind of stimulation and enrichment these animals need you will never be able to provide that animal the same kind of excercise it would've gotten in the wild and wild animals kept as pets are usually always victims of wild caught or bred for hunting. The only time where it really is acceptable to keep a wild animal away from it's home is if they are completely incapable of taking care of themselves in the wild, but even then an appropriate enclosure should be provided that's as close as possible to their natural habitat

Not to mention you are putting your own life and that animal's life at risk by treating it like a lap dog or a house cat. You can never train that wild instinct out of a wild animal and no matter how soft and cuddly they seem there's always the chance of an incident and when that happens the animal gets put down.

Adding to that never trust anyone who claims they "breed" these wild animals as pets. Especially when it comes to reptiles. Wild caught pets is a serious problem. Do your research before adopting a pet and don't let these cute viral animal videos fool you.