morelia spilota outside of Oz

[mainbutter]

So as I understand it, it is currently illegal to export animals out of Australia.

That being the case, what is the history behind aussie pythons(and other native aussie wildlife) in the UK and US? I assume at some point it was legal to export, so how many years has it been since then?

Is there much illegal exporting going on right now? I have to imagine that "new" morphs popping up outside of aussie-land could imply illegal activities.

I'm particularly interested in the history of morelia spilota exportation, and what we Americans are missing out on due to current legislation.

[Colin Vestrand]

i would imagine that we get a lot of carpet morphs from the result of inbreeding... which tends to bring out hidden traits in reptiles. this is why they don't have the same morphs in australia as we do in the US and europe.
i know some lines have been been smuggled... most notably the albinos and other darwins were probably all smuggled illegally.

the thing is, because all carpets are the same species, there's no way to really prosecute if they make it out of australia because of the fact that they're all Morelia spilota ssp as far as the authorities are concerned. you can't nab a guy for having darwins because he could say they're ij's and there's no way to 'prove' otherwise.

i think they stopped all exportation in 1971 or so... i could be wrong on that though.

[Patrick Long]

i think they stopped all exportation in 1971 or so... i could be wrong on that though.

You are right, they did stop exporting in Early 70's

[Jerhart]

There's also the euro connection. They have some great lineage over there. Once in a while you will see some of those animals pop up in the states.

[Colin Vestrand]

yes, definitely...

and to clarify, by 'us' and 'we' i meant everyone outside of australia.

[Patrick Long]

I think its crazy to see the differences in the Euro blood and the US blood.

Quite drastic

[Chuck]

I Really feel that the biggest thing we miss out on is locality specific animals. I think if most people could see the difference between a Palmerston jungle and an Atherton or a Tully they would be quite fascinated. The other part is how jungle and coastal ranges overlap and you can't tell the difference between a jungle and a coastal to save your life, and I guess it beg the question in those areas is there a difference. They are such a great example of natural selection and species diversity. carpet pythons cover such a large area and encompassing such different environments to see how natural selection has worked to adapt them to survive and thrive is absolutely amazing to me. This is what has really lit my fuse about carpets past the joy they are to work with,sorry for the rant.

Chuck

[mainbutter]

So the entire US/european stock of aussie pythons, excluding a few notable exceptions, can be traced to a handful(or maybe more than a handful.. any idea on how many were exported?) of animals exported pre 1970s?

[Chuck]

So the entire US/european stock of aussie pythons, excluding a few notable exceptions, can be traced to a handful(or maybe more than a handful.. any idea on how many were exported?) of animals exported pre 1970s?

No I wouldn't say it is anywere near that cut and dry. Here is the link to a thread you should read it outlines how jungles were brought in but also there is a lot of other stuff that just showed up but this is a good thread and should answer your questions partially.

http://www.moreliapythons.com/forums...founding+stock