Quote:
Originally Posted by Socratic Monologue
It is worth mentioning that all Tiliqua rugosa in captivity (and all, or nearly all, Australian animals, for that matter) are either themselves smuggled or are the descendants of smuggled animals -- another point that may have been worth space in the article.
I think this is important enough that it bears repeating:
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Of course they were all smuggled at some point - no Australian species were ever imported legally I dont think , especially not to the private sector. And if they weren't snuck into the country many years ago and the right keepers / breeders hadn't gotten them, there would be no dragons, dwarf monitors, diamonds, carpets, skinks, etc. in the private sector right now.
I'm not encouraging smuggling animals just pointing out the facts of how it all turned out. Seems to me whatever was smuggled in 30 - 40 years ago didn't have an impact on the wild population and if anything took pressure off the wild populations as these desireable species are readily available as captive bred. If breeders tried to do it with the legal permits and paper work, it would never , ever happened.
It got bad enough ( or good enough depending what side you're on ) that Fish and Game has to make up new laws every year to now bust you for breeding in your own home since it's getting harder and harder to get someone coming out of the woods with a snake in a bag.
I guess though if some felt strongly enough about having animals that decended from illegal / smuggled animals 30 years ago they could always turn their baby diamond pythons over to Fish and Game when they hatch instead of listing them in the classifieds
