Conservation

Here are just a few informational websites out there concerning conservation
The Blue iguana Conservation project:
http://www.cyclura.com/modules.php?o...rticle&sid=146
Mampam Conservation efforts (Including many varanid species, amphibians and even some mammals)
http://mampam.50megs.com/projects.htm
N.A.R.O.A. (Kevin is a great man, with incredible efforts for all herps)
http://naroa_2002.tripod.com/id11.html

Hope you find this helpfull
Thanks
Rusty

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but do the math a snake that hatchs about 6-10 eggs per clutch being yanged out of the wild at an avg of 40K a year wont take long for them to become endangered.

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Thats very true....

Hopefully with all these breeders in the US the demand for wild caught snakes will go WAY down.

Actually, with so much land being cleared for farming in West Central Africa, ball pythons are doing better than ever before.

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Originally Posted by Python-77

CBB released back into there habitat would have the same chances of survival as there WHB counter parts. As for BP's being endangered they are not on the list yet, but do the math a snake that hatchs about 6-10 eggs per clutch being yanged out of the wild at an avg of 40K a year wont take long for them to become endangered.

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There are a LOT of considerations before someting is released into the wild.

What is the current population in the area?
Is it growing, shrinking, or staying the same?
What is the food supply for this population?
What is the population of animals in the same area of other species that will be competing for the released animal for food?
What will be the impact of the food supply for them?
What is the population of animals that predate on what you are intending to release?
Will an increase in animal A cause a decrease animal B, C, or D below the level that the population can be maintained?
Will an increase in animal A cause an increase in animal B, C, or D above the level that the population can be maintained?
What is that areas point in a drought or flood cycle?
Time of year.
What potential genetic aberations could you be introducing to the wild population once the released animal begins mating?
Is this area in the migratory path of other animals that may compete with, predate on, or be predated on by the released animal?

Is this a territorial animal? is there any free territory to be had or will they have to duel a native animal for it? If this results in the death of one of the two, you did not change the population did you? What about the death of both?

And on and on, and we didn't even get to the legal and economical considerations like what happens to indiginous people that rely on hunting or farming and what impact on them a change in animal population has. Ecological balance is a really complex science of statistics and long term research. While it sounds altruistic to release all the captive animals or for everyone to return their captive pets offspring to the wild to make up for taking that one out, you could be doing far more harm than good.

Keep captive animals captive and keep wild animals wild.

No offense dude, but you just release the animal in an area where they naturally occur. A mother python doesn't ask these questions when she normally lays her eggs.

A lot of times the reintroduction programs are much more difficult to be sucessful than you may think. A CBB animal released into the wild will not have a resistance to things they would encounter in the wild, and a wild snake wouldn't be resistant to things a CBB animal could introduce. There are many other factors too.. I think it'd be simpler with snakes since they don't 'learn' skills from other snakes. They're pretty much born knowing everything they need to know.

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Originally Posted by Andrew00

A mother python doesn't ask these questions when she normally lays her eggs.

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She doesn't really ask questions, but instinct and her environment ensure she does it a the right time and that only the appropriate number of offspring reach adulthood. Her diet, her ability to find a mate, animals that predate on the eggs before they hatch, animals that predate on hatchlings right after they hatch, and of course a food supply suitable for hatchlings. Some animals may refuse to breed for a few years if conditions are not right to rasing offspring even.

We need to ask these questions because these reflect the problems we have created in the past. These questions and more reflect all the subtlties of an ecological web that animals know and feel and live by through instinct.

I appreciate what you are trying to say, but talk to an ecologist or a biologist that handles a relase program and you will see how naive it is to think you can just turn animals free in an area and all will be well.

I know that it is often illegal to introduce reptiles and amphibians, that have been in captivity, into the wild. They can pick up bacteria or other germs in captivity, from anready captive animals, that they would never have encountered in the wild. Then they can spread these contaminants to the wild population.
Then again, there are so many pollutants and contamination already, from humans, that I wonder if it even matters. We have these huge factory farms that produce tons of hormone-carrying wastes (say, from cows) and the wastes are just dumped into farmer's fields as liquid fertilizer. Sometimes after this is done, you can see hordes of birds in the field. Why? The polluted liquid waste, kills off so many earthworms, that the birds have a feast.
Humans suck in my opinion. :)