The import restrictions

Dan

Dan

Well-Known Member
Since joining this forum about 5 months ago, I have found out that some kind of import regulations or even prohibitions (?) on zoo animals are at place in Australia - perhaps also in New Zealand?

Would anyone "in the know" please take a moment and summarize those restrictions and the reasons for them?

Thanks!
 
Basically, Australia is currently free of many animal diseases which exist in other parts of the world, such as rabies, anthrax, rinderpest, Newcastle disease etc. and in order to protect our rural industries the importation of even-toed ungulates (hippos, deer, antelopes etc.) and birds is prohibited.

The situation in New Zealand is almost identical.
 
@Dan: due to the restrictions there is not the variety of species in Australian zoos that are found in the thousands of zoos throughout North America and Europe. In Australia there are barely any bears, cats or hoofstock in comparison to major zoos elsewhere, and there are zoos that I've visited in the U.S. that in a single collection have more variety than the entire list of exotics on the Australian continent. However, to be fair Australian zoos are packed with all sorts of mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and invertebrates that can not be found at any other zoos on the planet. After touring Australia in 2007 I saw countless animal species that I have never seen since.
 
actually snow leopard you are only right on the hoofstock count...the reason for the lack of species diversity in groups like bears, primates and big cats is because of regional collection planning principles...not quarantine. ironically, these TAGS have historically been the most rigorous and progressive in actioning their goals; effectively elminating many species in the name of creating more places for fewer species. its a principle thats been around for well over a decade now, and if it had been pursued a little more vigorously by other TAGS we might not have the critical decline of many species and high levels of inbreeding.
now back to quarantine
quarantine effectively rules out the importation of...
exotic rodents
exotic antelope
exotic birds
on the other hand we have plenty of exotic reptiles.
there are many species which can be imported but for which import protocol need to be drafted. at the moment there is a strong trend in the Australian zoo community to augment existing populations of 'planned' species with imports from the international zoo community with few 'new' species ever coming in. economically this makes sense; to just top-up what we already have rather than go to the expense of getting a new animals.
i think the last time a 'new' species was imported was the Francois langur though I could easily be wrong.
 
So regional collection planning principles are also a culprit in the lack of species diversity throughout Australian zoos? Between the quarantine and planning principles there are quite a few exotics missing from Aussie collections, and so in reality it is amazing that Australia still has some fabulous zoos across the nation. Taronga is excellent, Melbourne is a little weathered but still holding its own, and the three open range zoos and numerous smaller wildlife parks are all top quality. I think that the relatively tiny zoo in Adelaide (8 hectares/20 acres) combined with Monarto makes South Australia the next hot destination of choice for zoo fans. Are you going to fly there to see the giant pandas glyn? Sydney might be too far to drive unless you are like me and love road trips, but isn't Adelaide only about 7 hours driving from Melbourne for ZooChatters who live there? One could have breakfast in Melbourne and then be in Adelaide for dinner!
 
There also seems to be a tendency to just "drift along" with those ungulate species which we DO have.
Examples; sitatungas were allowed to die out because bongos were favoured, but now bongos are in a critical state; scimitar-horned oryx seem to be hanging in but without much urgency and elands are more or less taken for granted, as are blackbuck (which are probably the only antelope in a healthy position, numbers-wise.)

Deer species are all taken for granted, with an unspoken fatalistic attitude of acceptance as to whether they die out or not.

A start was made with African forest buffalo, a very attractive and interesting sub-species (to me anyway) but interest was soon lost and so they are going, going, gone too. As are peccaries.
 
Snowleopard, If you fly tiger airways (A cheap domestic airline in Australia) it is cheaper to fly then the money it would cost for petrol to drive from Melbourne to Adelaide so that's what I'll be doing.
 
i actually will mission it to adelaide to see the pandas SNOWLEOPARD lol.
but i dont think ill be the only one
 
PAT said:
Here is the Australian Government site about which animals can be brought into the country but I'm sorry that I can't be of more help.

http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/lists/import/pubs/live-import-list.pdf
Click to expand...

Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I was referred to this one. :)

The question I have about this list is that it seems to belie the logic of import restrictions. The mammals and birds that are listed are all domesticated species: the ones *most* likely to carry diseases that could threaten the domestic livestock industries.

I can't fathom how a toucan or an impala could be more dangerous to the chicken or cattle industries than, you know, chicken and cattle?
 
CGSwans said:
The question I have about this list is that it seems to belie the logic of import restrictions. The mammals and birds that are listed are all domesticated species: the ones *most* likely to carry diseases that could threaten the domestic livestock industries.

I can't fathom how a toucan or an impala could be more dangerous to the chicken or cattle industries than, you know, chicken and cattle?
Click to expand...

Firstly, the document you have linked is from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act - a piece of legislation designed to protect the native environment, not industries based upon exotic domesticated species.

Secondly, to answer your question: The reason some common domesticated species are permitted by other agencies (such as AQIS and BA) is because the biology of these species - and their diseases - are extremely well known, and the quarantine import restrictions placed upon imports are designed to minimise or eliminate any risk of diseases being introduced. Much less is known about Toucans and Impalas, so they come under more severe restrictions.

And it's not just disease. The possibility of escaped individuals becoming established in the wild and threatening native species is also a consideration of both the EPBC and Quarantine Acts.

:)

Hix
 
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Also, and I'm being a bit cynical here, the cattle industry (numerically and therefore financially) has a lot more clout with the government than the zoo "industry".
 
Like Hix says this is only the list from an environmental perspective and most domesticated animals are already roaming all over the place destroying our environment (farmed and feral) so a few more won't make a difference. Also, I don't think any cattle actually come in though do they because of quarantine restrictions? I'm almost positive live Chickens and Pigs are not allowed because of quarantine restrictions (which only allow meat under certain conditions - eg. de-boned; cooked until it's inedible in the case of chicken etc). I think the cattle industry relies on importing semen and embryos for genetic diversity rather than trying to bring in live animals ("coals to Newcastle" analogy as we export heaps of beef and dairy catle).
 
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