I've only been to two without tigers I think, Sequoia Park and Sacramento. The former doesn't have hardly any large species and the latter formerly had them but space constraints forced them out of the species.
What are some animals that are usually not in collections because of politics?
- Thread starter Nico_Olieros
- Start date
I've only been to two without tigers I think, Sequoia Park and Sacramento. The former doesn't have hardly any large species and the latter formerly had them but space constraints forced them out of the species.
I've been to 4 this month
Not including aquariums. One native collection, one that only keeps small species, one that has a focus on the americas (holds only two asian species), and one that just doesn't have them.
Waaaaay off-topic at this point, of course
To bring this more back on topic, there's several species that have become widespread but were and are prohibited from export by their native countries; the Fijian banded iguans and the Ethiopian Mountain Viper in particular come to mind.
Also originally China kept Pere David's Deer a secret until skins were bribed and smuggled to Europe by the now namesake. However they provided deer once the species became known, so who knows what the secrecy was about.
Also originally China kept Pere David's Deer a secret until skins were bribed and smuggled to Europe by the now namesake. However they provided deer once the species became known, so who knows what the secrecy was about.
It wasn't that "China was keeping them a secret". The last surviving population of the deer was in a protected hunting preserve of the Emperor. That's it.
That's right, thanks for the correction.
Technically that makes them a secret, because the emperor wont tell you what animal are in his place ;p
Galapagos tortoises and geladas are other examples.
Most founder Galapagos tortoises were exported before the ban I think - could be wrong on that though. There are still wild-caught individuals here in the states, some over 100 years old.
Pretty crazy stuff to think about! No idea when the ban was, but must have been quite a while ago.
It was brought into enforcement in 1959, so well within the lifespan of many giant tortoises.
Similarly, the captive population of Gelada (in Europe at least) dates back to the early 1950s and as such isn't an example of a species which has become widespread in spite of a ban.
The key difference between these species and the viper and iguana cited by @Great Argus is that the captive population of the latter is *solely* the result of illegal imports which were - to a greater or lesser extent - "greenwashed" in a similar fashion to the smuggled Galapagos species now held in Uganda.
And increasingly bred and exported apparently, according to an article published this year that I ran across looking further into the Galapagos subject. Said center is apparently slowly cranking out iguanas that are then being distributed at high prices to other parts of Africa and Asia.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/en.bitacoraec.com/amp/where-are-the-pink-iguanas-of-galapagos
That's a really good article, however it does keep talking about how all these traded iguanas are of captive-bred origin (because that is what they are listed as on permits), but they don't actually need to be breeding them in Uganda. Once some original animals are laundered as "captive-bred" then any number of wild-smuggled animals can then be traded because there is existing "captive breeding" stock from which to export them. They may indeed be breeding them there, but it is significantly faster and more profitable to smuggle lizards than it is to breed them. The price for one iguana would probably be more than the outlay of the smuggling trip, and the penalties when caught smuggling animals are invariably minimal.
It does keep mentioning "captive bred", but also explains that while they do have CITES permits the Ecuadorian government confirms no such permits have been issued and all iguanas are (or are descended from) illegal exports. I do appreciate that the article does not soften its stance on the matter simply because the iguanas are supposedly "legal" and potentially captive-bred, they do not encourage any part of the situation.
I don't doubt you're right on the majority of iguanas are still being smuggled, especially for the apparent extremely high prices for some species. Indeed as harsh as Ecuador has been about no exports, the resulting punishment when someone is caught has yet to be particularly severe. The mere fact smuggling is still occurring seems to be enough proof the price is well worth the potential consequences. And clearly those owning the iguanas have no qualms about it, the photo at the Uganda place with the men holding Brachylophus vitiensis, and both land and marine iguanas is certainly frustrating. The owner of the center having been busted for stealing geckos out of New Zealand as well as Galapagos iguanas at least shows there are attempts to curb the trade but what punishments are in place clearly aren't enough risk to offset the money if they can get the lizards onto the black market...
Past situation of the Alpine Ibex is surprisingly similar. The Ibex are almost all illegal, including all Ibex held at zoos.
The Alpine Ibex was hunted out to near extinction already in the 18.- century. The only group survived in Grand Paradiso in Italy, in a private reserve of a local king, who saved them but did not want to share. When pioneering Swiss conservationists wanted to reintroduce the Ibex to Switzerland, they met with refusal. As a result, poachers and smugglers were contacted. Poachers caught ibex kids. Domestic goats were taken to the mountains, ostensibly to graze on mountain pastures, and milk goats were led to hidden shelters of local smugglers to feed the ibex kids. As the result, few smuggled baby Ibex arrived in a Swiss zoo in Sankt Gallen. The wild ibex living today in Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, most of Italy, Germany and Slovenia – over 50,000 and 95% of the worlds population, and all the Ibex in zoos are descendands of these few illegally obtained animals.
It is an interesting story, with all the quirks of the early 20. century and parallels to the 21. century conservation plans.
Geraubt und gerettet
Alpen-Steinböcke und 100 Jahre Engadiner-Nationalpark | KapoMuck on tour
https://www.amazon.de/Von-K%C3%B6nigen-Wilderern-Wiederansiedlung-Alpensteinbocks/dp/3726214151/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=Von+K%C3%B6nigen+und+Wilderern&qid=1567951441&s=gateway&sr=8-1
Lets hope nobody will call to repatriate all the Alpine Ibex in the zoos and in the wild back to Gran Paradiso or Ecuador.
The Alpine Ibex was hunted out to near extinction already in the 18.- century. The only group survived in Grand Paradiso in Italy, in a private reserve of a local king, who saved them but did not want to share. When pioneering Swiss conservationists wanted to reintroduce the Ibex to Switzerland, they met with refusal. As a result, poachers and smugglers were contacted. Poachers caught ibex kids. Domestic goats were taken to the mountains, ostensibly to graze on mountain pastures, and milk goats were led to hidden shelters of local smugglers to feed the ibex kids. As the result, few smuggled baby Ibex arrived in a Swiss zoo in Sankt Gallen. The wild ibex living today in Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, most of Italy, Germany and Slovenia – over 50,000 and 95% of the worlds population, and all the Ibex in zoos are descendands of these few illegally obtained animals.
It is an interesting story, with all the quirks of the early 20. century and parallels to the 21. century conservation plans.
Geraubt und gerettet
Alpen-Steinböcke und 100 Jahre Engadiner-Nationalpark | KapoMuck on tour
https://www.amazon.de/Von-K%C3%B6nigen-Wilderern-Wiederansiedlung-Alpensteinbocks/dp/3726214151/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&keywords=Von+K%C3%B6nigen+und+Wilderern&qid=1567951441&s=gateway&sr=8-1
Lets hope nobody will call to repatriate all the Alpine Ibex in the zoos and in the wild back to Gran Paradiso or Ecuador.
I don't think comparing the Galapagos and Fijiian iguana smuggling operations to Alpine Ibex is a good fit at all actually; the situation is entirely different.
It seems possible that if smuggling of Galapagos iguana continues (or captive breeding) the species may show up in zoos in a similar fashion to the Fijian iguanas, then?
iZoo in Japan held them at least in 2019 and are in the gallery...
@RatioTile
...iZoo has a few Galapagos species, unsure how they came to get there however.