Endangered species kept as pets

[TheEthiopianWolf03]

I was just thinking about how many species are kept in private care and are endangered. I don’t mean ring tailed lemurs and other exotics like that. I’m referring to animals found at local aquarium stores or reptile stores. Animals that are bred to be sold into the pet trade and that could be acquired almost anywhere, even at places like persmart. What kind of species are commonly sold into the pet trade and are endangered? For example, Javan finches are found along side your typical canary and zebra finch with breeders.

 

[nczoofan]

Well you have a lot of pets who's endangerment is caused largely by the pet trade. This is especially true for species who do not breed well in captivity, african gray parrots and many species of tortoise come to mind.

 

[Swampy]

Quite a few species of reptile & amphibian in the pet trade are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN. Perhaps most notable is the crested gecko, but others include Fiji iguanas, Philippine sailfins, mantellas, various dart frogs, geckos of the genera Phelsuma and Uroplatus, and even the ever-popular axolotl.

In addition, endangered invertebrates in the exotic pet trade include several tarantula species of the genus Poecilotheria.

 

[Okapipako]

Don't forget long-tailed chinchillas! They're just barely hanging on in their native Chilean Andes, but are slowly recovering enough to shift from Critically Endangered to Endangered. According to IUCN, about 90% of the global wild populations of both species were lost in the past 15 years alone.

Considering their popularity it'd be nice if their status in the wild was publicized more. In the public consciousness they really only exist as either just a fashionable pet or coat material.

 

[TheEthiopianWolf03]

Do you think people should start making private captive breeding programs to help with ending exportation from the wild? I think this could work but it will most likely be very hard to tackle each and every species. Maybe a group could be set up to help private owners start breeding these species? I considered to start breeding Bangaii cardinals once I became more experienced with fish keeping but is it really a good idea to get species from the pet trade and try to breed them only to end up buying more and creating a rise in imports? I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks.

 

[Sheather]

I have Java finches, they are becoming rare in the wild but a truly domesticated pet population now exists.

 

[Swampy]

Do you think people should start making private captive breeding programs to help with ending exportation from the wild? I think this could work but it will most likely be very hard to tackle each and every species. Maybe a group could be set up to help private owners start breeding these species? I considered to start breeding Bangaii cardinals once I became more experienced with fish keeping but is it really a good idea to get species from the pet trade and try to breed them only to end up buying more and creating a rise in imports? I'm curious to hear what everyone thinks.

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[TinoPup]

The Bactrian camel is another example. Tons in the domestic realm, critically endangered in the wild.

 

[birdsandbats]

Red-Tailed Black Shark is a common example.

 

[Kakapo]

Take in account that IUCN only applies danger factor for wild population. The result is that there a re a lot of species that are endangered, critically endangered or extinct in the wild and that are like pest found by hundreds of thousand in every pet store in the world, they are massively breeded and the captive population is everything but endangered, despite the species being severely endangered IN THE WILD. Common examples that come to my mind by memory are chinchillas (tough I think that most individuals found in pet trade are hybrids, not any of the pure species), Endler's livebearer, red-tailed shark minnow, axolotl... for sure would be many more if I search. In fact, many years ago I did an expo about this subject (this is back in the years when Flickr only allowed expos of maximum 18 photos, one of them was deleted since by the author): Endangered, yes, but... so now that I refresh my memory with my own expo, I add golden hamster, emperor scorpion and bala sharkminnow to the list of "endangered" animals commonly seen in pet shops. Bali mynahs are also starting to settle widely in the pet commerce, tough is not commonly seen yet in the trade.

 

[Jana]

Another species that is critically endadgered in the wild but rather common in private care is swifts parrot.
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Personally, I think that some very popular pet species that are now threatened by illegal capture for pet sale could profit from special breeding centers (in zoos?) that would produce thousands of youngsters and so cover demand and decrease the market price to the point that illegal collection and distribution would just become not viable anymore.

The most prominent species I can think of is Radiated tortoise. It breaks my heart seeing thousands of confiscated animals when we already know enough about its husbandry and breeding and some private people as well as zoos breed them. Just not in high enough numbers. Why not to take the confiscated animals, put them into adequate pens and let them breed to the maximum possible biological rate, incubate all eggs and keep babies in optimum condition so as much of tehm as possible survive and can be sold.

Or the most popular singing birds in SE Asia. Bali mynah is just one of many. Create farms and produce thousands. And illegal capture should slowly dissappear.

Some species with slow reproduction (like Spider tortoises) or difficult requirements (European eels) are not suited for such scenario. Many many others are.
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This leads me also to a conflict between heart and head.

Years back, when I have seen horrible conditions under which local Czechs animal traders kept small parrots bought from small Czech private breeders and intended for export to mainly Middle East, I was disgusted and would fight to stop it. But over time, I slowly realised how huge and hungry is the market for pets in quickly growing countries in many parts of S/E Europe and especially Asia is, and I ve come to more pragmatic worldview. Maybe the suffering of those individual parrots, bred for many generations in captivity and to a degree domesticated, more in line with domestic animals like cows or chicken, is maybe a price needed to pay to feed the thirst of pet market. And so replace birds that would be otherwise harvested from wild.

 

[CaliHans]

Large numbers of Bali Myna have been captive bred in Indonesia for many years now, yet the small population in the wild is still suffering from illegal poaching. It is the same situation for several species of Hill Myna in Indonesia where wild caught birds fetch higher prices and are generally more desirable.

 

[Daktari JG]

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[Jana]

Large numbers of Bali Myna have been captive bred in Indonesia for many years now, yet the small population in the wild is still suffering from illegal poaching. It is the same situation for several species of Hill Myna in Indonesia where wild caught birds fetch higher prices and are generally more desirable.

What is "large number"? Indonesia alone has +250 mio people.

 

[Jurek7]

Radiated tortoise. It breaks my heart seeing thousands of confiscated animals when we already know enough about its husbandry and breeding and some private people as well as zoos breed them.

I visited Madagascar with places where these tortoises live, and the situation is more complicated. There is practically no wildlife law enforcement in Madagascar, and basically tortoises are a free resource to be collected for whatever purpose. If not exported as pets, then exported as food, collected locally as pets (I saw one in a roadside restaurant where we stopped for a dinner) or whatever.

One might compare it to a situation in Central European countries in the 1980s-1990s, where thousands of Central Asian tortoises were sold as pets. Not because there was a particular demand for pet Central Asian tortoises but because supply was so easy.

The only situation which I see might work is to let locals in Madagascar export tortoises (quotas on wild-caught or locally bred) in exchange for protecting remaining wild tortoises. This would create a local force in Madagascar able to watch over wildlife at least a little.

 

[Jana]

Central Asian tortoises are still, to this day, legally imported into the Czech republic by animal traders, thanks to annual harvest quota in Kasachstan I think.

But the reason why only small numbers are imported nowadays - it´s their price, around 1600 czk in retail for semi-adults after quarantene. On the other hand, 1-years old locally bred Hermann's/Greek/Marginata Tortoise is for 1000-1300 czk in retail. So absolute majority of people who want to buy a new pet for their children will buy a locally captive bred one of the latter species. Even ilegal import from Dalmatian and Greek coast by tourists practically ceased to exist.

And this is something I wish happened for many small endagered species in pet trade. To crash the market price and make them dirt cheap. By mass-breeding of said species, or closely related/similar one in appearance. We cant do much with harvest quota in Kasachstan or law enforcement in Madagascar. But maybe we can at least squash demand from overseas.

Something like distribution of legal starting breeding groups together with simple hunbandry manuals, to local private breeders, somewhere near target markets in Asia, so they can turn it into profitable family bussiness. Make radiated tortoises see the same fate of canary birds and corn snakes. Is it naive?

 

[Coelacanth18]

Large numbers of Bali Myna have been captive bred in Indonesia for many years now, yet the small population in the wild is still suffering from illegal poaching. It is the same situation for several species of Hill Myna in Indonesia where wild caught birds fetch higher prices and are generally more desirable.

Why would they be more desirable? I would think that birds born in captivity would be tamer, healthier, and less likely to die from disease or stress.

 

[CaliHans]

Why would they be more desirable? I would think that birds born in captivity would be tamer, healthier, and less likely to die from disease or stress.

Bird singing competitions is very popular on Java and Bali where top performing birds can fetch very high prices. Many people believe that wild birds displays a more complex/unique song (especially in Mynas) hence being more likely to win competitions and as a result being more desirable.

 

[arafan]

Why would they be more desirable? I would think that birds born in captivity would be tamer, healthier, and less likely to die from disease or stress.

I've read in a report that wild bird tend to "sing" more, which I would assume to be the main reason to keep the birds (at least it works so in Brazil).

 

[Jurek7]

Something like distribution of legal starting breeding groups together with simple hunbandry manuals, to local private breeders, somewhere near target markets in Asia, so they can turn it into profitable family bussiness. Make radiated tortoises see the same fate of canary birds and corn snakes. Is it naive?

I would check something like that: identify villages around large tortoise populations. Check whether local villagers can indeed control the forest. Not that if outsiders collect the wild tortoises, locals are unable to stop them. Get people from those villages to breed tortoises (or collect a quota of juveniles from the wild). People in rural Madagascar are usually very cash strapped, that is they would very much welcome a paid job. Organize a certified collection of quota of tortoises, under a condition that wild population of tortoises remains numerous. Organize checking that it is the case (not that people e.g. put tortoises to the forest before a warden checks, to pretend there is a healthy population in the wild). This might work.

I think one can saturate the market for pet tortoises. I am not sure, however, that it is possible to saturate the market for food tortoises in East Asia, where there is locally a fashion of dining on (any) unusual animals as a sign of social status.

What does not seem to work is the blanket ban based on a French tradition of the law, together with no money, institutions, tradition and culture of wildlife law enforcement. Such conservation laws are not effective even in France, and in rural Madagascar are not functioning.