The European Union is one of the largest importers of animals destined for the exotic pet trade.
Although most of the specimens traded are of a limited number of species, there is also significant demand for rare species, particularly amphibian and reptile species. Currently, only a small fraction of species that are traded are covered by international or European legislation.
According to the fourth version of the ‘Stolen Wildlife’ report published by the German organization Pro Wildlife, the European Union is the main center and destination for stolen wildlife from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania, with reptiles and amphibians the most trafficked species.
“Mexico is the second country in terms of reptile diversity, with the most number of species, after Australia. We have so many species that become highly desired animals for collectors who want to have these rare, hard-to-find reptiles, and that’s the problem. In Europe they have money and little regulation,” Joaquín de la Torre, regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), told DW.
According to the report ‘The business of extinction in Spain’ by WWF Spain, which analyzes the trade and trafficking of species in Spain from 2006 to 2015, the country imported 4.5 million CITES specimens, of which more than half correspond to reptiles (2,553,000 units) –mainly skins–, followed by mammals, birds, amphibians and fish.
In terms of trafficking, between 2005 and 2012, more than 14,000 CITES specimens were seized, with reptiles, fish and flora being the three main groups. The most significant trafficking is that of reptiles, mainly skins, with Spain being the country where the largest number of skins are seized in the world, accumulating almost a third of the total (11,600 skins between 2005 and 2012).
“Spain is the gateway for many species that come from Africa and America to the rest of Europe and Asia,” explains Laura Moreno, WWF Spain’s Species Manager, to DW. “There is a lot of homework because many species pass through here and many go to a fair in Germany,” she adds.
A key meeting point
This is Terraristika which is organized quarterly in Hamm. “Often the animals are sold online and the delivery takes place in Hamm,” Katherina Lameter, co-author of the Pro Wildlife organization’s ‘Stolen Wildlife’ report, told DW, noting that such sales are not only taking place in the fair. “They are also sold in Hamm hotels and parking lots,” she adds.
“There are some controls, but a fair like Hamm is too big and there are too many different species. The authorities are completely overloaded”, considers Katherina Lameter, co-author of the report ‘Stolen Wildlife’ from the organization Pro Wildlife. “We urgently need strict and preventive measures to stop trafficking,” she claims.
“Throughout the European Union, CITES regulations are the same. Each country is a member of CITES, but in turn the European Union is a member of CITES and the European Union has CITES as stricter, as more conditions in the annexes”, adds the head of Species of WWF Spain. “If an animal is prohibited here, it is probably also prohibited in France, so even if it is not detected here, if it is detected there, in theory it could not be marketed,” she points out.
A legal web of a complex sector
“Species that are not native to Europe, are not listed under CITES, are not protected in Europe or Germany, therefore trade in exotic wildlife is not illegal, even if they are nationally protected in your country. of origin”, explains Lameter. “For example, an animal of a nationally protected species being illegally caught and smuggled out of the country, as soon as it arrives in Germany, Europe, is no longer illegal and can be sold openly. Therefore, the main part of the market is legal trade, ”he details.
However, the IFAW manager throws the alarm signal. “The Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature is recognized and accepted by all authorities to recognize as a reliable source that a species is in a category of risk.
Normally, when one of these species enters a risk category, until it is later tagged with a risk category until it receives trade protection in CITES, it can take a couple of years.
In these couple of years, we have detected that the species that receive a risk category are beginning to be used more to put them on the European market and commercialize them”, he explains worriedly. “They capture pregnant females of any species and market the offspring as captive-bred,” he warns.
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