They have many, breed them regularly and the enclosures are very good. Smuggled or not, these animals are in great shape and do very well in captivity.
@Sicarius nice to know, would there be any chance iZoo shares them with others? I doubt any would accept, but if any foreign zoo asked for specimens would the structure be keen to collaborate? No problem if you don't know, just thought I'd ask
This is actually quite a problem with a lot of Island fauna. The Galapagos are a protected area, so you can't take animals out. But that also means that zoos can't breed them, which would be very good for the population (see the Blue iguana population).
So smuggling is bad, but it's now good that they're being bred. Zoos don't want to support smuggling and take over the animals, but that also means they can't set up a proper breeding programme
@Mr Gharial yeah the private animal trade can be pretty shady at times, and some specimens even end up in zoos (see the Borneo earless monitor), that is mostly due to lenghty or non-existent bureaucratic papers that makes smuggling the only easy option to get animals.
Of course I do not support smuggling, but I do think papers to get animals should be loosened at least for scientific structures such as accredited zoos and universities.
