Australia's wish list of exotic pets

Date:
August 20, 2020
Source:
Pensoft Publishers
Summary:
Unsustainable trade of species is the major pathway for the
introduction of invasive alien species at distant localities at
higher frequencies. It is also a major driver of over-exploitation
of wild populations. In a new study scientists estimate the desire
of Australians to own non-native and/or illegal pets and the major
trends in this practice. In addition, the team suggests ways to
improve biosecurity awareness in the country.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Unsustainable trade of species is a major pathway for the introduction of invasive alien species at distant localities and at higher frequencies. It
is also a major driver of over-exploitation of wild native populations. In
a new study, published in the peer-reviewed open-access scholarly
journal Neobiota, scientists estimated the desire of Australians to
own non-native and/or illegal alien pets and the major trends in this
practice. In addition, the team suggests ways to improve biosecurity
awareness in the country.


==========================================================================
Over the last two decades, Australia has been experiencing an
increased amount of non-native incursions from species prominent in the international pet trade, such as rose-ringed parakeets, corn snakes and red-eared sliders. On many occasions, these animals are smuggled into
the country only to escape or be released in the wild.

In general, the Australian regulations on international pet trade are
highly stringent, in order to minimise biosecurity and conservation
risks. Some highly-desirable species represent an ongoing conservation
threat and biosecurity risk via the pet-release invasion pathway. However,
lack of consistent surveillance of alien pets held, legally or otherwise,
in Australia remains the main challenge. While there are species which
are not allowed to be imported, they are legal for domestic trade within
the country. Pet keepers have the capacity to legally or illegally
acquire desired pets if they are not accessible through importation,
and the number of such traders is unquantified.

Since keeping most of the alien pets in Australia is either illegal or
not properly regulated, it is really difficult to quantify and assess
the public demand for alien wildlife.

"We obtained records of anonymous public enquiries to the Australian Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
relating to the legality of importation of various alien taxa. We aimed
to investigate whether species desired in Australia were biased towards
being threatened by extinction, as indicated by broader research on pet
demand or towards being invasive species elsewhere, which would indicate trade-related biosecurity risks," shares the lead author Mr. Adam Toomes
from the University of Adelaide.

According to the research team's analysis, pets desired by Australians
are significantly biased towards threatened species, invasive species
and species prominent in the U.S. pet trade.

"This novel finding is of great concern for biosecurity agencies because
it suggests that a filtering process is occurring where illegally smuggled animals may already be "pre-selected" to have the characteristics that
are correlated with invasive species," warns Mr. Adam Toomes.

However, the bias towards species already traded within the U.S. suggests
that there is potential to use this as a means of predicting future
Australian desire, as well as the acquisition of pets driven by
desire. Future research from the Invasion Science & Wildlife Ecology
Group at The University of Adelaide will investigate whether Australian seizures of illegal pets can be predicted using U.S. trade data.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Pensoft_Publishers. The original
story is licensed under a Creative_Commons_License. Note: Content may
be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Adam Toomes, Oliver C. Stringham, Lewis Mitchell, Joshua V. Ross,
Phillip
Cassey. Australia's wish list of exotic pets: biosecurity and
conservation implications of desired alien and illegal pet species.

NeoBiota, 2020; 60: 43 DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.60.51431 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200820102432.htm

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