Live reptile smuggling is predicted by trends in the legal exotic pet trade

Stringham, Oliver C.; García‐Díaz, Pablo; Toomes, Adam; Mitchell, Lewis; Ross, Joshua V.; Cassey, Phillip

doi:10.1111/conl.12833

Cited by 22 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…We reviewed the title and abstract of each publication searched and excluded studies solely on data from the CITES Trade Database, LEMIS and ISIS. We downloaded 110 publications in total (Table S13), including studies on online trade, physical stores or markets, zoos, those on both online trade and physical markets, and on databases of wildlife trade 14 . These studies included surveys on legal or illegal wildlife trade, or both.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Global Colonization Pressures of Alien Vertebrates in Trade

Blackburn²,

Luo

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The increased trade in live wildlife for pets and other uses potentially elevates colonization pressure, and hence the risk of invasions. Yet, we have limited knowledge on number of species traded outside their native ranges as aliens. We create the most comprehensive global live terrestrial vertebrate trade database, and use it to investigate the richness of alien species in trade, and correlates of establishment richness, for aliens across countries worldwide. We identify 10,378 terrestrial vertebrate species in the live wildlife trade globally. Approximately 90.1% of these species are aliens, and 9.1% of the aliens establish populations. Large numbers of alien species have been imported to countries with high incomes and large areas. Such countries are also hotspots for establishment, along with some island nations. Colonization pressure and insularity consistently promote establishment richness across countries. Socio-economic and climatic factors are also associated with establishment richness for different taxa. This study identifies daunting challenges to global biosecurity from future invasion risks posed by wildlife trade.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying Global Colonization Pressures of Alien Vertebrates in Trade

Blackburn²,

Luo

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Furthermore, farming of tokays is so poorly regulated that it is generally regarded as a scam for laundering wild animals [16] and therefore cannot at present sustainably feed the trade. Laundering of one species can sustain or replace trade in other species [51] while legalization of trade of one new reptile species in one part of the world results in the illegal smuggling of reptiles in other locations [52]. Effective management of the illegal wildlife trade is a multifaceted global issue that requires local and international coordination and consistency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home and hub: pet trade and traditional medicine impact reptile populations in source locations and destinations

Dufour

Miot

et al. 2022

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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The pet trade and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) consumption are major drivers of global biodiversity loss. Tokay geckos ( Gekko gecko ) are among the most traded reptile species worldwide. In Hong Kong, pet and TCM markets sell tokay geckos while wild populations also persist. To clarify connections between trade sources and destinations, we compared genetics and stable isotopes of wild tokays in local and non-local populations to dried individuals from TCM markets across Hong Kong. We found that TCM tokays are likely not of local origin. Most wild tokays were related to individuals in South China, indicating a probable natural origin. However, two populations contained individuals more similar to distant populations, indicating pet trade origins. Our results highlight the complexity of wildlife trade impacts within trade hubs. Such trade dynamics complicate local legal regulation when endangered species are protected, but the same species might also be non-native and possibly damaging to the environment.

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“…The source of these establishments were animals being released from captivity either deliberately or accidentally. Incursions arising from pet keeping (including species kept illegally) will continue (Toomes et al 2020b;Stringham et al 2021a). We also expect ongoing introductions, despite stringent biosecurity measures, of hitch-hiking species such as the black-spined toads (Duttaphrynus melanosticus; Tingley et al 2018).…”

Section: Reptiles and Amphibiansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do we need to mine social media data to detect exotic vertebrate-pest introductions?

Caley

Cassey

2023

Wildlife Res.

Self Cite

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Invasive alien species are responsible for considerable biodiversity loss and environmental damage. Timely detection of new incursions is critical in preventing novel populations establishing. Citizen reports currently account for the majority of alien species detections, arising from the massive observation effort that the physical and digital 'eyes and ears' of citizens provide, in combination with crowd-sourced species identification. Because the reporting of alien species sightings is generally not mandatory, there is interest in whether mining social media data via image recognition and/or natural language processing can improve on existing passive citizen surveillance in a cost-effective manner. Here, we illustrate, using examples from Australia, how citizen surveillance for most vertebrate groups appears to currently be effective using existing voluntary reporting mechanisms. Where citizen surveillance is currently ineffective, for reasons of inadequate sampling, data mining of social media feeds will be similarly affected. We argue that mining citizens' social media data for evidence of invasive alien species needs to demonstrate not only that it will be an improvement on the business as usual case, but also that any gains achieved cannot be achieved by alternative approaches. We highlight the potential role of education in increasing the surveillance effectiveness of citizens for detecting and reporting sightings of alien species. Should data mining of social media platforms be pursued, we note that the scale of the task in terms of the potential number of exotic vertebrate species to be classified is very large. The expected number of false positive classifications would present a considerable workload to process, possibly undermining the efficiency rationale for the use of data mining. Hence, prioritisation is needed, and we illustrate how the number of species to be classified can be reduced considerably. If we are to deploy data mining and analysis of social media data to help with detecting introductions of invasive alien species, we need to conduct it in a manner where it adds value and is trusted.

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Live reptile smuggling is predicted by trends in the legal exotic pet trade

Cited by 22 publications

References 39 publications

Quantifying Global Colonization Pressures of Alien Vertebrates in Trade

Quantifying Global Colonization Pressures of Alien Vertebrates in Trade

Home and hub: pet trade and traditional medicine impact reptile populations in source locations and destinations

Do we need to mine social media data to detect exotic vertebrate-pest introductions?

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