wild populations becoming threatened

willbenn · #1 03-05-2010, 10:48 PM

not sure exactly where this thread should go but since people oftne mention destruction of wild populations on this forum i figured its as good a place as any.

with the several smugglers that have been caught over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about how smugglers contribute to species becoming threatened or possibly extinct. this has gotten me thinking. ive been racking my brain trying to come up with some species of gecko (or even other reptiles) that have become threatened due to collection solely for the pet trade. im sure there are some but i cant think of any off the top of my head. im not talking about collection for food or by-products, im talking strictly for the live pet trade without other factors involved like habitat destruction or introduction of non native animals. there has to be some in areas of asia and possibly northern africa. can anyone enlighten me?

Ruru · #2 03-05-2010, 11:15 PM

I don't think there would be any species affectd by the pet trade that haven't also been affected by habitat destruction, predation by introduced species or predation by humans. Good luck in your search!

willbenn · #3 03-05-2010, 11:22 PM

ruru - what about if we count some habitat destruction and introduced species, can you think of any that are mainly affected by collecting? i honestly cant think of any. there are certainly local populations that are strongly affected by collecting but if a range is so small that collection is potentially threatening to a species, that species is already in BIG trouble

danscantle · #4 03-06-2010, 01:16 AM

I can't think of any. A couple of sketchy Europeans vs. Rats vs. Habitat destruction. Some are probably worse than others...

luc · #5 03-06-2010, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbenn

not sure exactly where this thread should go but since people oftne mention destruction of wild populations on this forum i figured its as good a place as any.

with the several smugglers that have been caught over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about how smugglers contribute to species becoming threatened or possibly extinct. this has gotten me thinking. ive been racking my brain trying to come up with some species of gecko (or even other reptiles) that have become threatened due to collection solely for the pet trade. im sure there are some but i cant think of any off the top of my head. im not talking about collection for food or by-products, im talking strictly for the live pet trade without other factors involved like habitat destruction or introduction of non native animals. there has to be some in areas of asia and possibly northern africa. can anyone enlighten me?

Two species that became endagered because of the pet trade are shinisaurus crocodilurus and corucia zebrata.

willbenn · #6 03-06-2010, 11:20 AM

luc - both are good examples, but i question whether either species became endangered mainly from collecting. both species have also been heavily affected by other factors like deforestation. a good question is - if people had not collected those species, would they still be endangered?

i could be wrong but i think shinisaurus were threatened/endangered before they became popular in the pet trade. the numbers were definitely in decline from habitat destruction and pollution.

the zebrata is a good one. they were exported in large numbers before they received CITES II status.

oli · #7 03-07-2010, 07:27 PM

what about some of the australian species where habitat destruction is less of an issue like the n. deleani for instance?

tanala · #8 03-08-2010, 04:58 AM

after the description of Goniurosaurus luii and araneus, some populations declined drastically due to massive collecting. I dont know if they recovered, nor if these populations are affected by habitat destruction etc. Another species that could suffer is Lygodactylus williamsi. I have another example: there was concern that some Mantella species (frog genus from Madagascar) are threatened because of over-collecting. However, several studies couldnt show that - even in areas with high collecting pressure, populations seem to be stable. But Mantellas are a different kind of animal group. It seems they can recover by a high reproduction rate. Geckos dont have high reproduction rates, so if looking after influences on populations of animals that are of concern to the pet trade, you have to take many aspects of their life history into consideration.

Sebastian · #9 03-10-2010, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willbenn

ive been racking my brain trying to come up with some species of gecko (or even other reptiles) that have become threatened due to collection solely for the pet trade. im sure there are some but i cant think of any off the top of my head.

As already mentioned Lygodactylus williamsi is a good example. This species lives in an extremely small area and thousands of them have been exported.These days they are sold at a loss. (for 20-50 USD)
At the moment I don't think that CB williamsi can counterbalance that and future will show if it is possible to list them on CITES.

willbenn · #10 03-11-2010, 11:36 AM

oli - n. deleani does have a small range but i was actually told by an aussie herper that deleani are fairly common in their range.

tanala - the goniurosaurus are an interesting possibility. the l. williamsi are also greatly affected by deforestation. and i would think everything from madagascar is more greatly affected by habitat loss/deforestation than collecting. from what i have read, over 80% of the islands original forest is gone.