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.”
