Wildlife exploitation

If you were a scientist and needed to find out how negative of an impact a given threat has  on a species, how would you test it?

Exploitation of wildlife, can occur in various forms, from fashion industry to trophy hunting from exotic medicinal – to culinary use, from game fishing to exotic pets. We are of the impression that exotic pet trade is covered strongly by the media, whereas the other forms of wildlife exploitation are often neglected, if at all reported, by general news.  This is a shame, considering that the most pressing issues get less media coverage.

Fish & Marine species:  Population growth fuels global demand for fish and shellfish.  Sports fishing has caused declines in popular fish such as tuna, swordfish, sailfish, etc.  The Fish Industry has dramatically reduced numbers in the oceans, lakes and rivers.  The aquarium trade adds to this decline in numbers.

Plants:  Overharvesting and illegal collection as a result of their medicinal, food, raw materials and building materials value for the private and commercial market has resulted in dramatic drops in availability.  Collection of rare plants for the private collectors has resulted in much fewer numbers in the wild.

Reptiles & Amphibians:  Wanted for their skins, eggs, meat, medicinal value, education, research and the private hobbyists, the numbers have been in decline for some time.

Birds:  Hunted and collected for food, sport and the private hobbyists their numbers are dwindling.  Some have been hunted or poached to extinction.

Mammals:  Hunted for food, sport, their furs, medicinal values, research, Zoos, their ivory  from horns and antlers have reduced global numbers.  Some have been hunted or poached to extinction.

The global problem of smuggling and illegal collecting, as it relates to timber logging, the over-collection of plants & flowers, illegal hunting & trapping, illegal fishing, illegal collection of & trade in reptiles and amphibians, etc., is without a doubt an existing problem.

Regarding the West Indies, commercial exploitation of the West Indian boas effectively ended in 2003, with the last legal importation of several C. gracilis and C. fordii by a NY tropical fish importer (pers comm). Before this point imports of West Indian Boas occurred on a more or less regular basis from the 1960ies through 1990ies. Some species were imported in large numbers and especially hard hit were the numbers of C. s. fosteri on Bimini due to both legal and illegal collecting of the boas during the 1970s (.

The overall import numbers were in decline starting in the early 1990s, as can be seen by the CITES data provided in each species account under the Conservation section.  The overall declines seem to be a result of captive breeding successes as well as the emerging morph market and the ensuing lack of interest in not only West Indian Boas but all boa species such as Boa constrictor, Eryx, Candoia, etc.

Only recently has there been renewed interest in these genera/species.  While private collectors in the 1960s and 70s were fascinated by almost any species that they could get their hands on, today most of the commercial and private sector is focusing on color and pattern mutations (so called “Morphs”) and thus the hobbyists today resemble the fashion industry followers more than the naturalists of the past.

The days of “Show me the boa and I’ll show you the crime” are now long in the tooth.  While smuggling and illegal collecting are still real issues for many regions in the world, they are rare and few in the West Indies.  Most references that allude to smuggling and illegal collecting are relic references from the 1980s and 1990s.  Sentences like, “Market demand has continued and increased for New World species, which includes all Mesoamerican reptiles and amphibians” , do not aid a publication’s credibility when making ad hoc claims as to the severity and scope of smuggling and illegal collecting. Recently the effect of taking individuals from populations of anoles in disturbed habitats was measured. The study concluded that these populations were not affected by taking individuals . While this should not be misunderstood in the wrong sense, it might serve as  an argument to take animals for captive breeding operations or to harvest a (very) limited number of individuals from the wild on an annual basis.  Similar strategies are employed in West Africa with ranched ball pythons.  Population declines were not observed due to this harvesting method.

Published incidents of illegal collecting, smuggling or poaching in the region:

Here we list, what we can find, the cases of smuggling in the West Indies.  Some attempts are bird related since they are in high global demand.  Some are smuggled off the South- and Central American mainland and onto the islands, such as Trinidad and Tobago.

1)  13 critically endangered Bahamian Rock Iguanas were smuggled out of the country by two Romanian women in July, 2014.  The iguanas were repatriated to the Bahamas but 4 died as a result of the ordeal.  Story here.

2)  Grand jury charged three men with conspiracy to engage in the illicit trade of migratory birds in Puerto Rico in January, 2021.  Story here.

3)  A convicted wildlife smuggler who still operates as a leading buyer and seller of reptiles has been accused by federal prosecutors of scheming to smuggle illegally harvested Florida turtles to China, Japan and other places on 6 October, 2021.  Story here.

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