no exotics!!

[Retic]

Boas are a potential threat because of their breeding habits.
Balls, no.
Corns, yes.
Burms yes because of their size
Iguanas, again yes I suppose because of their size but their feeding habits make them less of a threat.

So do you consider the following to be a threat?

Boas, Balls, Corns, Burms, Iguanas.

The Above are what i consider to be some of the most commonly kept exotics off licence in Australia.

Matt

 

[Sdaji]

Natives outside their range and exotics which have never had access to Australia are completely different and can't be compared

I disagree there.
Why would any of the northern WA species not be a pest species in North queensland?
Yes, tropical species are unlikely to become a problem in temperate, alpine or mediteranean climates, but not vice versa.
You have to comapre apples to apples. Shinglebacks or bluetongues from south west WA could become established in Vic. As could any of the species from those areas.
Worse, they would pollute the native gene pool so you would never again know what was pure and what wasn't.

Yes, there are some exceptions, mostly though, it is a case of upsetting gene pools (you might get Darwin carpets surviving well in Cairns), but the impact is small compared to introducing a new species. Having said that, I think if you're keeping a species within its natural range, you have a very large responsibility to ensure it doesn't escape. Yes, in some cases it might be possible to establish a population of native animals outside their natural range, but the chances are much, much lower and if it does happen, the impact is (generally speaking) going to be much, much lower than an exotic. I think it's fair to say that there is a very big difference between exotics and non indiginous natives, at least 95% of the time and with the remaining 5%, the potential problems are probably about 95% less severe, 95% of the time.

For the reasons you've described, I'd be suspicious about the purity of animals collected near cities.

 

[CodeRed]

What was the financial benefit to the general community for legalising the importation of exotic parrots ?
I'm not really that bothered one way or another, if they are legalised I will have some if they aren't then I wont. I do like debating it in a mature manner though ;-)

Some politician probably got a kick back ... I didnt say that the financial benefit had to be evenly distributed

Yes, it is nice to have a debate without the name calling and bitchiness.

Either way, what ever is said on here isnt going to stop those already smuggling, breeding and selling exotics. They have their own back pockets to look after. Maybe the next topic should be about the leanient sentences given to those caught with exotics.

 

[Sdaji]

Boas are a potential threat because of their breeding habits.
Balls, no.
Corns, yes.
Burms yes because of their size
Iguanas, again yes I suppose because of their size but their feeding habits make them less of a threat.

So do you consider the following to be a threat?

Boas, Balls, Corns, Burms, Iguanas.

The Above are what i consider to be some of the most commonly kept exotics off licence in Australia.

Matt

Why are ball pythons not a threat?

Why is a vegetarian less of a threat than a predator? Some of our most damaging vermin is vegetarian. It's difficult for a plant to run away from something which wants to eat it. Plants are an important part of the world too.

 

[Sdaji]

What was the financial benefit to the general community for legalising the importation of exotic parrots ?
I'm not really that bothered one way or another, if they are legalised I will have some if they aren't then I wont. I do like debating it in a mature manner though ;-)

The benefit is in votes, and also personal preference. Bird people have a larger voice, because there are more of them. The fact that it is irresponsible to allow people to own cats and exotic birds doesn't matter to a politician, they're interested in votes, not the wellbeing of the natural world. If they have to cause damage to make people happy, so be it, they don't care. Fortunately the reptile people didn't kick up enough fuss early on to make the government decide to win votes by allowing similar damage to the herpetofauna of the country.

 

[Australis]

Perhaps the fact that Balls have small clutch numbers, just beens they will be slower in creating a feral population

 

[Retic]

I don't consider Ball pythons a real threat as they are not an aggresive feeder like say a Burmese Python, they are small and reasonably slow breeders.
I consider iguanas less of a threat because they obviously aren't running around eating native animals and to be honest given the amount of plants they eat they are hardly going to plunge any plants into extinction. I did say they could be considered a threat but less of one ;-)

 

[Australis]

I guess it all depends on what you class as a threat, Iguanas are a feral pest in Florida, and i suspect they could become one rather quickly in QLD give the chance. Regardless of what they eat, im not sure how happy they would be sharing the bush with natives.

Matt

 

[Sdaji]

People only have one baby at a time, but we've managed to have a reasonable impact. Lower clutch sizes means a greater percentage of the offspring will survive.

Ball pythons are aggressive enough to make a living for themselves in the wild. Rabbits aren't particularly aggressive feeders, neither are carp.

Plants might disagree on the iguana issue, so might the other species which used to feed on the iguana's favourite food plant.

 

[moosenoose]

I think the Exotics would be fine, it's some of the people keeping them that would be the trouble.

 

[Lurk]

I have read all opinions on this debate and so far all I can come up with is it does not matter if it is a bird,mammal or aquatic speices.Why would we as proud Australians do our inviroment any more harm without completly knowing the total damage that any one of these exotic animals can do? There is know way of knowing,So in my opinion the laws should stay in place for the sake of our inviroment and the fantastic wildlife we have.
Not for the sake of human envy

 

[Retic]

:lol: Agreed.

I think the Exotics would be fine, it's some of the people keeping them that would be the trouble.

 

[CodeRed]

I think the Exotics would be fine, it's some of the people keeping them that would be the trouble.

yeah didnt you know, all reptile keepers are tatooed, peirced, ex-con, biker, drug dealing, dole bludgers 8)









did I leave anyone out? :wink:

 

[Retic]

The only problem with that is that our laws are doing absolutely nothing to stem the tide and the laws are going to have little effect on the environment.

So in my opinion the laws should stay in place for the sake of our inviroment and the fantastic wildlife we have.
Not for the sake of human envy

 

[Lurk]

I think the Exotics would be fine, it's some of the people keeping them that would be the trouble.

Your right it would be some of the ppl keeping that would be trouble and so,Why would we have it so that these ppl are permitted to have exotic animals ?

 

[Lurk]

The only problem with that is that our laws are doing absolutely nothing to stem the tide and the laws are going to have little effect on the environment.


That is the sad truth but I would not like it open to make matters worse.

 

[Retic]

Actually you are right there, they are having some effect no matter how small that effect is.

 

[bigguy]

What people are failing to realise, there are probably more exotics held and bred in Australia then natives. To say you don't want them here as they MAY cause environmental damage is a joke. They are here and in unbelievable massive numbers for at least the last 10 years. Still waiting for these plagues of exotics breeding across Australia.

Africa, yes the laws are having some effect. There was probably 50 or so exotics seized and destroyed this season. There was even about 18 handed in with the Australian amnesty a few years back. In NSW this year it was estimated some 10, 000 exotics were bred and sold as illegal pets without any control whatsoever.

People can put their heads in the sand all they want and hope the problem goes away. But guess what. They are here now and in numbers you's guys just fail to or refuse to comprehend. Its not going away, only going to increase every year. These animals need to be controled as they are never going to get rid of them.

Just for the record, I am not pro exotic. I have no intention of keeping any(which I can do legally as I am a licenced exhibitor). I am a realist. These animals are here, face it. They will never be seized, so the next best thing is to try to control the problem.

 

[NoOne]

I started a post about this a while ago......i think it's about time they tried to get some control over exotics by licensing them rather than this ineffective system we have now.
I'm not into exotics but i think things need to change, people are more likely to dump illegal animals than legal ones at least a license system will have some control and idea of numbers out there and it would be alot cheaper to run, probably even make money.

 

[Morelia_Hunter]

The fact of the matter is that you will never know just how good a keeper you are unless you succeed in maintaining animals from different parts of the world for extended periods. I find australian reptiles to be extremely hardy and they tolerate many husbandry errors. I just think that some of the more serious keepers are missing out on gaining experience with some of the more fascinating exotic species. I grew up in countries where exotics were allowed to be kept, and I can guarantee you that even the most die hard pro Australian reptile keeper would crumble on their views of these animals. Yes I think Australian laws protect their animals! But I do think that it only drives the market underground and creates a supply and demand situation. Smugglers will still keep offloading their animals for huge prices regardless. I have also heard of some Guys from Sydney being in South Africa a feqw weeks ago buying up everything that moves, from veiled Chameleons, tarantulas to boas. Apparently these animals are quite expensive in Sydney. Please people dont for once think that these exotics are not being kept in vast numbers. From what i heard these guys took back more than 20 animals. Did not see anyone get busted did you?