Exotic Pet Trade?

[Mr Oni]

Just a small point, the 'big game' hunting that you mentioned actually is very good for conservation. Paid hunts bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservation efforts, help preserve habitat, and protect the existing animal populations from poaching. Its a very different situation from the illegal smuggling and poaching of animals. (Also, any animals being flown to a ranch in Texas with the intent of hunting them are illegally obtained. That is not a legal practice and is in fact poaching.)

WWF- Hunting for Conservation

Hunting As a Conservation Tool

Trophy Hunting in The Context of Conservation

Most of what people tend to think of when they hear "exotic pet trade" is animals being wild caught and poached illegally. That or people releasing their snakes and such "back to the wild". Many don't both to educate themselves on the captive populations that typically serve as exotic pets, so exotic pet owners often get cast as shady people when that's really not the truth in most cases. Fact is, it is the people who acquire large, dangerous animals without regulation that give the industry a bad name. The people who let their lions escape, or get hurt when they get too comfortable around a tiger (which is not just "a big *****cat" as some seem to believe). I'm not against private ownership of large exotics. But there is an extreme lack of regulation that often leads to misconceptions and laws like those in West Virginia. If you want a tiger, fine, but there should be mandatory education before being permitted to acquire one, background checks, inspections to guarantee an animal's proper care, assessments of enclosures to ensure the safety of both the animal and the community. There need to be regulated channels to go through. Many states either have ridiculous restrictions (like WV) or none at all, and that is an issue that needs to be addressed. The answer is not a shut down on the exotic animal industry, but a monitoring of it. And higher punishments and criminal charges for those who illegal obtain, smuggle, or poach animals. This would discourage the illegal capture of animals and encourage the existence of a captive bred population, which would in turn create a healthier population in captivity without the risk of parasites and illness from a wild caught/poached animal. The process of being smuggled leads to so many sick, ill, injured, and dead animals with little consequence for the perpetrators.

Yes, killing endangered/threatened animals is a great way to help the environment and conserve the animals.....by killing them.

I start fires to help prevent future fires.



Sent from MY MOM!