Legal or ill



I was wondering if any one can help me understand what animals are legal and what one are not. I have been involved with herps for a long time now and I am always getting confused on wild imports that are coming from countries that there are no permits allowing exportation (Panama, Brazil, Australia.) to name a few. Although I am always seeing animals that are advertised with no discression. Are farm bred animals legal if so why and where is the farm. Are there animals that are coming in from Europe that are legal if so how and where did they get them. I asked a U.S. Fish and Wild life officer years ago at a Daytona show about legality of Australian Bearded Dragons and Dwarf monitors and why people say they are technically illegal but no one is getting busted and no one is hiding the fact that they have them. The officer really did not give me a good answer and i do not believe they understood my question or had any knowledge of the Lacey Act. There are a lot of cool animals out there that i would love to work with but I do not know if they are legal(Atelopus) for example Also does the Lacey Act apply to F1and F2 generations or animals that were here prior to the Lacey act??.

Please help me with my confussion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Weaver







Hi Tom,
Here is the understanding that I have according to the way the laws are written (and supposed to be enforced). (In fact at work we have mandatory Keeper training and one of the subjects and discussions is over the regulations involved in the animal trade)..

According to the country of origin (In your case Australia) all of the beardeds and pygmy monitors are illegal. However, this is how it works outside of Australia, the beardeds available are techinically legal due to confiscated stock being released to the private breeders in Europe. This legitimized all of the stock held in private hands as there was no way to prove the origin of any of the animals. The same is true for terriblis. Colombia has never granted permits for the collection of terriblis however animals were released to the private sector thus allowing all of the offspring to become illegal.

In cases of animals that are not legally collected or released to the private sector the offspring would still be illegal. For example if Atelopus zeteki show up in the pet trade these would all be illegal as Panama has not allowed any private export of these frogs. The only stock is in the hands of AZA approved Zoos that have agreed to not release them to the private sector (or even non-AZA Zoos and all of the Zeteki remain the property of the Panamanian goverment). They would be illegal regardless of the number of generations.

Currently there are small quantities of Typhlonectes natans coming into the country via the fish trade (as Colombia prohibits the export of all but a few select vertebrates and fish). All of these animals are illegal as are all of the offspring. Until lately, if you purchased some you were relatively safe from prosecution but to save thier budget in the Post 911 budget cuts, USF&W and various state agencies appear to be stepping up enforcement to show that they need the personnel and funding to prevent it from being transferred to the Homeland Safety Department.

Ed

Ed Kowalski
South Jersey



_______from the notes and contributions of Frognet Patrons_______