Thanks again Gavin for putting your thought-provoking ideas forward on this forum. This is such a difficult question to debate - the needs we as a group have, and the contributions we can make, not only to herpetoCULTURE, but to herpetOLOGY in general vs the variation in state laws (many are demonstrably stupid...) and the need to streamline and modernise the thinking within the various state bureaucracies. A large part of the problem we face now is bureaucratic resistance to the notion (it's now probably more a fact!) that our fauna is becoming commodified, ie, a tradeable asset. This is quite distasteful to many of the old-schoolers in the management authorities, despite it being perhaps the only way some species will survive in the long term. You just hyave to look at the head-in-the-sand attitude of the WA bureaucrats when anticipating the advance of the Cane Toad into WA - you cannot take protected fauna despite the fact that it's going to die if you don't... Sure, you'll get exploiters creaming a bit off the top at the beginning, but if the ultimate aim is to prevent the loss of species forever, and the aim is achieved, who bloody-well cares??? Back in 2004, I pulled the RSP file from CALM under FOI, and it made interesting reading. CALM simply ignored the early correspondence from JW, until the Minister was contacted and forced the beginning of dialogue... which lead to the situation we have seen unfold with this species. In the file, John mentions that he believed that within 10 years of the first breedings, the RSP would be a $200 snake. He wasn't far off the mark, despite his prophecy sounding (to me!) far fetched. Bear in mind that this was a species completely unknown to science until 1979-80, and one which took him many trips to secure the 5 individuals that have got the species to where it is in captivity today. This is a fine example of what an individual who has tenacity, knowledge and resouces can do for a species which may be very vulnerable to even minor changes in its habitat. It looks as though Gavin is on a similar trajectory with the Oenpelli, and as one who has watched the RSP story unfold, I will be thrilled to see developments with this species...
Those three qualities - tenacity, knowledge and resources - are major requirements any national body will need to interact fruitfully with the state and federal bodies across the country, and I believe that tenacity is critical. Elitism and downright cynicism (anybody interested in "exploiting" wildlife is likely have a criminal intent) is rife in the state bodies - the generalised belief that amateur keepers know nothing and cannot contribute meaningfully to the conservation debate often kills dialogue before it has a chance to start. Reflecting on our work in WA, it was only a kick up the backside from 2 consecutive Ministers (Lib and Lab) which got us past the starting gate - where CALM had kept us for a number of years. In some jurisdictions, we may have to wait until those carrying the established negative values retire or move on, if political pressure can't be brought to bear. Hence the need for tenacity. But we also need to increase our influence in those bureaucracies, to prevent or reduce the idealogical "trickle-down" effect which is prevalent in those organisations. A professional lobbyist sounds like a very good idea to me.
The range of skills and breadth of knowledge that serious herp keepers can bring to the table in this country is potentially enormous, it can (and should) certainly be harnessed to prevent total extinctions where it is likely this may happen. It is a resource not recognised by blinkered and uncooperative bureaucracies. For me this is a source of continual frustration...
Having said all that, many of our problems come from within our own ranks, and serve only to enhance the cynicism within government ranks - the "anything goes" mentality - mixed breedings, the urgent need we have for the designer snakes and morphs so obviously first bred overseas etc, etc, add a lot of negative noise to the serious debate we need to have with wildlife authorities.
The question is - how do we cut through that crap and establish a sensible dialogue...?
Jamie
Are you planning on doing something about it or are you just asking? I think it would be a good idea if it was run by experienced people and helped out with problems like the one in wa that has been spoken about.
