Florida wildlife agency is expected to shoot down a commercialized turtle breeding proposal - WUSF News

-

Conservationists are split on a new proposal that would legalize captive, commercial breeding of one of Florida's flagship species. The state's wildlife agency was expected to vote against the plan next week over concerns it would make diamondback turtles more attractive for poachers.

The U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers of Florida wants the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to approve captive breeding to lessen the novelty associated with the species' current population levels and better prepare for impending habitat loss due to climate change, spokesman Daniel Parker said. The group represents pet stores and hobbyists.

Florida's coastline houses five of diamondback terrapin's seven subspecies. None are endangered, but all are designated as Species of Greatest Conservation Need, according to the state agency. Three of the species are exclusive to the state.

The proposal wasn't expected to survive. A staff report from the wildlife commission, to be presented during a commission meeting Wednesday, concluded commercialization would provide uncertain benefits while increasing risk of harm to the species, specifically poaching, trafficking and laundering.

The commission's experts concluded that captive breeding would lead to increased illegal collection and demand, spokeswoman Lisa Thompson said.

Parker, who under an educational license owns four diamondback terrapin – Marshmallow, Bug, Mama Crusher and Sweetie – disagreed.

When animals are tightly regulated, he said, prices just go up. Ornate diamondback terrapins, a species exclusive to the state, fetched more than $1,400 each in 2015, according to a price analysis provided to the state agency by Florida turtle breeders.

"Like an illegal drug dealer," Parker wrote, "a poacher is motivated by the profits of selling a product with an artificially inflated value."

"Unfortunately with FWC," he said, "there's an ideology against keeping animals in captivity. I believe that's more of an animal rights agenda than a conservation agenda. Conservation should be about sustainability of populations."

Thompson, the agency spokeswoman, said public feedback was mixed. The commission's experts recommended that current rules remain unchanged.

Miami is the third busiest U.S. port for the export of turtles, according to data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with an estimated half a million turtles shipped annually.

Captive breeding — last allowed in Florida in 2006 — would make the terrapins more accessible, Parker said, and deter poaching, just one threat to the species.

The wildlife commission approved rules to improve management of wild diamondback terrapins in December 2021 as populations declined due to habitat loss, animal trading and use for food and medicine overseas.

Terrapins aren't not commonly sought out as pets, said Hallie Risley, who works at Gator City Reptiles in Gainesville, but private hobbyists have been advocates for reinstituting captive breeding since the original 2006 ban.

Transitioning any animal from their native environment into captivity is difficult, Risley said. If they are born into captivity, they can have fewer health and behavioral issues. It also allows more opportunities to understand species' habits: the main mission on captive breeding, she said.

The proposed breeding program could also allow terrapins confiscated by law enforcement to be placed with breeders who are licensed by the wildlife agency. A license fee, Parker said, could offset administrative costs and fund conservation efforts similar to existing operations for venomous reptiles.

The wildlife agency was accepting public comments during its meeting Wednesday. Comments submitted in advance must be sent no later than 5 p.m. Friday.

This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at juliacoin@freshtakeflorida.com. You can donate to support our students here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All In The Family: Maine Mother & Son Charged in Massive Drug Bust

-
Image
corso dog :: Article Creator Woman Hospitalized After Attack By 2 Dogs At Same Edmonton Home Where Boy Died: Lawyer UPDATE: On April 15, 2024, the City of Edmonton provided an update on the fatal attack. It said that prior to the deadly incident on April 1, "the city had no lawful basis to remove the dogs from the home." The city added that "all prior complaints about the dogs involved in this incident were investigated thoroughly and appropriate action was taken in accordance with the applicable legislation." The city also said a review found that its staff "acted appropriately in accordance with our standard practices and in compliance with the relevant legal constraints given the nature of past complaints and reports." A woman was hospitalized after being attacked in February by two large Cane Corso dogs at the same home where an 11-year-old boy was killed last week, the woman's lawyer told Global News. "I...
Read more

Rare Frogs And Illegal Drugs - Palisades Hudson Financial Group

-
Image
Colombian conservationist Ivan Lozano has hit on a brilliantly promising strategy to protect his country’s rare and endangered amphibians. His plan: Flood the market with them. Lozano is not hunting rare frogs in Colombia’s Andean forests. He is raising them himself and selling them at prices designed to undercut poachers and smugglers. If he can raise the frogs cheaply enough, and in large enough numbers, he might manage to drive down the market price to the point that poachers no longer find it worthwhile to harvest and smuggle the creatures onto the black markets. Lozano told The Associated Press that his company also encourages collectors to breed their own frogs. Picture yourself as a poacher. If the government toughens the legal penalties and steps up enforcement, you will shrug your shoulders; legal risks are a basic cost of doing business. Since the demand for your product already exists among foreign collectors and other buyers, tougher enforcement merely reduces supply a...
Read more

Burn scars, winter storms threaten rare and endangered species in San Gabriel Mountains - The Bakersfield Californian

-
Image
LOS ANGELES — Up until a few weeks ago, the West Fork of the San Gabriel River was one of the most abundant wildlife habitats in Los Angeles County, a secluded and rugged area defined by its steep peaks, lush canyons and mixture of rare and endangered species. Recently however, a team of federal biologists and forest rangers was aghast when it visited the stream following the Bobcat fire, which has burned more than 115,000 acres in the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Terrain that once resembled a High Sierra granite gorge now looked like ground zero after a nuclear explosion, and the usually clean mountain air was sharp with the stench of smoke. Particularly unsettling were the bare and ashen slopes that were now primed to dissolve under pounding winter storms. A heavy mudslide, experts said, could reverse decades of conservation efforts by inundating the last outposts for such federally protected species as the Santa Ana sucker fish and Southern California m...
Read more