Tell Fish & Wildlife not to outlaw Pokies!!

As some of you know, Fish & Wildlife is considering listing 5 Poecilotheria species under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. This would eventually remove these five important and classic species from the hobby entirely.

Here is how this would impact anyone who keeps, breeds or sells Poecilotheria:

• The importation of captive bred individuals would require a permit, much like Brachypelma species under CITES
• Unlike CITES, interstate transport, and any commerce involving the species would require a permit
• You would need a permit just to buy one of the newly protected species
• PERMITS WON'T BE ISSUED FOR THE PURPOSES OF KEEPING OR BREEDING THESE SPECIES AS "PETS" - It's unlikely that anyone will be allowed to keep pokies in the trade/hobby
• Only individuals kept before the passage of the rule listing these species would be exempt; any offspring bred afterwards would be covered by the rule - all others would require a permit, which again, they won't be giving out
• Despite the positive impact captive breeding has had, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers all captive individuals useless due to potential inbreeding and hybridization
• While hybrids are listed as an exception to ESA, it's unlikely that would protect hobbyists or breeders - the burden of proof would be on you to prove you didn't just sell or ship a protected species

You can read more about the law and permits here, but the conclusion is pretty clear: dealers and breeders wouldn't risk it, and your average keeper or pet store would never go to the trouble of obtaining a permit they probably can't get. The result would be the complete and utter decimation of these 5 species in the US hobby, and Fish & Wildlife would quickly draft rules covering the rest.

Please don't reply to me - instead, tell Fish and Wildlife what you think!! Click the link below, and write a polite, rational and coherent argument either against this rule, or in favor of a total exception for all captive bred Poecilotheria. Here are some basic points I included in my comment:

• Habitat destruction, pesticide use, intentional killing and other local factors are by far the greatest threats to Poecilotheria
• Captive breeding doesn't make up the majority of spiders in the hobby - it's 100% of the spiders in the hobby - in 20 years I've never once seen a wild caught individual, and I'm guessing you haven't either
• While our captive bred stocks don't adhere to IUCN standards or guidelines, there are no programs that do! If (when) any of these species go extinct in the wild, captive stocks will be the only option, and that's better than nothing
• Finally, law enforcement should be going after smugglers, not turning tens of thousands of law abiding hobbyists into criminals

>>>>>COMMENT HERE NOW!!!!<<<<<

Go comment!!