Exporting fauna from OZ

[IGUANA_X]

Is there a chance Oz will open it's borders so that captive born australian species can be exported in the future?

[Scales Zoo]

I had heard some talk of this a while back, but I think it is highly unlikely to ever happen.

Ryan

[DragnDrop]

I've been hearing it for over 8 years. It's always 'next year they'll open the borders' but nothing's happened yet. Maybe 'next year' really does never come?

[crocdoc]

You guys already have more Australian species available in your pet trade than we do, exactly what was it you were after? Chances are, whichever species you are after is already available over there and you are perhaps hoping they'll be cheaper if they come from here. That's not likely to happen in a real hurry.

Personally, I don't think it is a good idea for us to start exporting anything because it opens the doors for all sorts of rorts. Of course, smuggling goes on at the moment, but at least any animal caught leaving the country is illegal and efforts can be made to stop it. Apparently the number of animals leaving (and entering) this country has slowed since security has been boosted post 9/11.

If legal exports were to be allowed, the big issues would be 1. No customs officer would be able to tell if reptiles were captive bred or wild caught 2. Most customs officers be not be able to distinguish a wildcaught individual of a rare species from a captive bred individual of a common species. Someone, somewhere would start exporting Varanus semiremex and call them V mitchelli.

I've seen this sort of thing happen before. When I was living in Canada there was a short period following introduction of the Lacey Act during which boas weren't allowed to be imported (this dates me a bit). People used to get around this by importing them as bull (gopher) snakes. Similarly, baby piranhas used to come to Canada via the US (Florida in particular, where piranha were illegal) by being labelled as Colossoma sp (tambaqui - 'pacu' is the trade name in Canada), which were legal.

[mbayless]

Hi all,
I too have heard all this talk of exporting Varanus and other animals from Australia for years....I don't know if it will become a reality or not? Raymond Hoser would know more on that than most people....

I can tell you some years ago a V. giganteus was sent from Taronga Zoo to USA zoo, where upon it was report to have died soon after, and again whereby it was sold to a private source in SW USA - they do come in sometimes....In 1991, the Editors (= Greg Naclerio and myself) of VaraNews newsletter knew of 10 V. giganteus legally in USA, and I believe perhaps 3-4 are still alive; 1 guy has three of them alone! Beautiful animals.

Pretty much anything somebody wants, they can find it, and pay the $$ for it of course....its all about $$.

cheers,
markb