Endangered Species: Call for new rules as pet trade fuels global wildlife crisis

NEW DELHI: A growing exotic pet trade has conservationists calling for stronger regulations to protect reptiles, birds, and other animals increasingly showing up for sale on internet marketplaces and gaining popularity on social media.

The two-week Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is underway in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and several proposals related to the pet trade will be considered Tuesday.

Participants have proposed tighter regulations or complete bans on the trade of several species, including Galapagos iguanas, more than a dozen Latin American tarantulas, and an odd-looking turtle from Africa.

“What we’re seeing is the pet trade much more looking at reptiles, amphibians,” said Susan Lieberman, vice president for international policy at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “People want rare species, and they don’t have to go into a pet shop.

They go online, and there are thousands of animals, including endangered species, illegally obtained species, all available on the internet.”

In the past, the trade was dominated by sales of animal parts like elephant ivory and tiger bones. But Matt Collis, senior director of international policy at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said live animals for the pet trade increasingly turn up online.

Several species proposed for greater protection at the CITES conference are in Latin America, where an IFAW report last year found illegal trade is rising. Covering 18 Spanish-speaking countries, the report says more than 100,000 animals were seized or poached from 2017 to 2022, with seizures increasing every year.

The report found the live pet trade accounted for a growing share, with reptiles representing about 60% of the animals, birds nearly 30% and amphibians more than 10%. Many were traded locally or regionally but there was also evidence of animals shipped to collectors in Europe, Asia and the US.

More than 90% of the wildlife destined for Europe were live animals, confirming demand for pets as a key driver.

Among reptile species up for tighter controls is Home’s Hinged-back Tortoise, a critically endangered turtle from West Africa with a unique hinge that closes off its back legs and tail.

There are proposals to regulate two Ethiopian vipers, two rattlesnake species in Mexico, the leaf-tailed gecko from Australia and two South American sloths increasingly appearing in sloth-themed cafes in Asia.

Ecuador has proposed banning trade in marine and land iguanas from the Galapagos, listed as critically endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Ecuador says it doesn’t permit commercial export and collecting iguanas has long been banned, but traders still capture young iguanas, mislabel them as captive bred and ship most to Japan and other Asian countries, where they can sell for as much as $25,000 on the black market.

The US supports the iguana, sloth, viper, tortoise and gecko proposals but opposes the rattlesnake listing.

Collis said traders abuse CITES permitting and captive-breeding rules, and importing countries often don’t check if animals come from the wild. Permits are issued without verifying origins, allowing traffickers to launder wildlife and “undermining the very framework meant to protect these species.”

A report from the Center for Biological Diversity found the US is among the biggest markets, importing on average 90 million live animals each year. “Wildlife exploitation, including for the pet trade, is a major driver of the global extinction crisis,” the report said.