# Legal to sell Australian Reptiles and other native animals in a Japanese Pet shop?



## Kmart23 (May 4, 2010)

Hey guys. 

Big first post, I know. I am hoping for a little help, but probably I will need to contact the govt or customs directly. 

I was just wondering if anyone knew for sure if you are allowed to sell Australian reptiles overseas. I was at a pet store here in Japan recently and they have a number of Australian reptiles for sale, and even a wallaby and a kind of small kangaroo.

Here are some pics.
























Any help or a link to when I should go for more information would be greatly appreciated. At this stage i don't know if it is legal or not, but I thought you couldn't export Australian native animals out of the country. . . ?

I was writing a letter to the Australian consulate last night,but stopped before I finished, as I decided i had better confirm if it is legal or not before I bother them.

Any help or links would be appreciated.


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## waruikazi (May 4, 2010)

It's not legal to export anymore but it used to be legal. So those animals will be progeny of most likely legally exported animals. You will probably find that the wallabies do not originate from Australia.


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## waruikazi (May 4, 2010)

And i don't think that kangaroo is a kangaroo.... it doesn't have a tail....


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## giglamesh (May 4, 2010)

the kangaroo look quite different its leg shape and such


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## Kmart23 (May 4, 2010)

yeah, that's why I called it a 'kind of' kangaroo, as I was not sure what it was. 

Where do you guess the wallabies are from if not australia??

good to know that at least they are probably legit and not support the trade of illegally smuggling animals out of australia.


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## waruikazi (May 4, 2010)

Wallabies occur naturally in Asia aswell as Australia (you can basically draw a line through the ocean on our side of Sumatra, our side you get wallabies and other marsupials on the other you get tigers and deer). There are also feral populations throughout the world including populations in New Zealand and Hawaii and they are kept as pets throughout the world also. So they really could have come from anywhere.


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## Pythoninfinite (May 4, 2010)

Looks like a barking deer or similar to me.

J.


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## Kmart23 (May 4, 2010)

thanks for all your help!


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## Tiliqua (May 4, 2010)

That 'type of kangaroo' is not a kangaroo at all. It's called a mara, also known as a Patagonian cavy. They're a big, long-legged rodent from the South American grasslands. Western Plains Zoo has them over here.


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## Pythoninfinite (May 4, 2010)

Ahhh... that's what it is! I looked again at the photo, and the snubby nose worried me a bit... Knew I'd seen them somehere! Thanks for the heads-up!

J.


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## Megzz (May 4, 2010)

Tiliqua said:


> That 'type of kangaroo' is not a kangaroo at all.


:lol: I thought it looked a bit too strange.

I feel sorry for those animals, it doesn't look like they have a whole lot of room in there... the wallaby and the marra I mean, the frilly looks pretty comfy.


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## Tiliqua (May 4, 2010)

Peter Johnson done a talk at Macherps a few years back of his experience visiting japanese pet shops. They had american alligators, emerald tree monitors and a baby hyena for sale. The shop owners had a very good understanding of Australian herps and their requirements, and were keen to see his pics of lace monitors. That Mara's price tag in Aussie dollars is about $2950, for those wondering.


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## TriggerFish (May 4, 2010)

Agree with the Mara identification. Only because that's what it says in the three green characters under the big blue Yen symbol.

A Mara being a cavy, that makes it like a big Guinea Pig right .


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## Stevo2 (May 4, 2010)

I would also suggest that the Frilly is from PNG (they're still exported from what I understand), although Aussie ones are available in the US at least.

Ultimately though, Australia has zero jurisdiction in another country and Japan's laws are what you'd need to find out about.


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## crocdoc (May 4, 2010)

As far as Japanese pet stores go, that collection looks pretty legit. Bearded dragons are everywhere overseas now and have been for quite some time. The mara is South American, the wallaby appears to be a Bennett's wallaby (a subspecies of the red-necked wallaby) which are common in overseas zoos and private collections and the frilly is likely a PNG animal. I've seen photos taken in other Japanese collections of animals that were almost certainly smuggled out of Australia.


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## peterjohnson64 (Oct 30, 2010)

the Pet Shop I visited in Tokyo (Vampire Kashiwa) had Pilbara Rock Monitors for sale!!! Can't buy them over here but you can in Japan. The lady that owned the shop said she gets them from a breeder in Canada. She wasn't breaking any laws but someone over here certainly was.


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## Jay84 (Oct 30, 2010)

Wow, where would people keep a wallaby lol


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## peterjohnson64 (Oct 30, 2010)

Jay, probably in the same place as the Hyena they were selling or the 6 feet long Alligator!!!


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## Jay84 (Oct 30, 2010)

tHATS CRAZY LOL.... WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A HYENA? cORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG, BUT THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD DOES NOT HAVE ACCESS TO MUCH SPACE???


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## Jonno from ERD (Oct 30, 2010)

Japan is a rich country that love "alternative" pets and also supports large professional collections like you see in the US and Europe. We sell a lot of books to Japanese customers.


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## varanophile (Oct 31, 2010)

Wallabies and possums are exported from New Zealand (where they are pests) to Japan as pets.


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