EXOTIC CONSUMERISM: ILLEGAL TRADE IN LIVE ANIMALS Video: Stolen Apes
Yet even those species that do survive the gruesome ordeal of capture and trade face an uncertain future. Many countries face crisis-level issues related to invasive species that have been imported and then released, turning ecosystems inside out and decimating native wildlife populations. The exotic pet trade is responsible for six species of pythons being introduced into Florida in the U.S., and a 20-year study indicates that 52 other species have become established there as well. As a result, the U.S. spends over $135 million USD each year on programmes to eradicate invasive species.
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to January 1995, the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspected 349 reptile shipments from 22 countries containing 117,690 animals. Ticks were removed from animals in 97 shipments, and infested shipments included 54,376 animals. Ticks carry many diseases that threaten livestock and human health, including heartwater disease, Lyme disease, and babesiosis.
But what about the animals themselves? A wide range of factors are used to gauge the real loss to wild populations of the live illegal pet trade – such as 10 dead chimpanzees killed during the hunt and capture for every live specimen that is procured for sale – but most of those numbers are inexact, or require verified data as to the size and location of wild populations. CITES used to require countries to monitor the loss of specimens held in captivity prior to trade, but that rule was quietly dropped in 2007. Nevertheless, a recent study by Pro Wildlife show that, incredibly, up to 100 percent of birds in Senegal and Indonesia, up to 85 percent of ornamental fish in India and Hawaii, and up to 50 percent of chameleons in Madagascar die after they’re captured and before they’re exported.
Yet a series of confiscations and arrests in recent months suggests that the global trade remains considerable – and consistent. In July 2015, officials at the Kuwait airport intercepted a pair of infant orangutans being smuggled into the country from Indonesia, and six months later, and Qatar law enforcement officials arrested a man attempting to sell a live chimpanzee in the Doha suburb of Al Aziziya. Meanwhile, a pet tiger fell off a truck in Doha in late 2015 and spent several hours wandering among the city’s rush-hour traffic.
Photo Credit: Common Commons
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