How deep is reptile skin?

[Guest guest]

http://www.langara.bc.ca/prm/1999/reptiles.html

 

 

 

More Than Skin-Deep

by Ronnie Fuentes

 

*After weapons and drugs, the illegal trade and importation of exotic

animals brings in the black market's biggest bucks. But why are people

buying Indonesian Komodo dragons or Madagascar tortoises? From suits to

soups to simple pets, reptiles fill a range of wants. But not all of them

are legal.*

 

The alligator struggles to break free. But seven mighty blows to the back of

its head abruptly end its futile attempts. Out cold, it receives another,

but less brutal, coup de grace: a seven-centimetre incision on the spot

where the deadly blows landed. Now slowly bleeding, it is left lying in a

gutter. After more than one-and-a-half hours, the metre-long creature is

dead. Its skin will be sold to make handbags for the fashion industry in

Europe and North America. Clifford Warwick, a trustee of the Reptile

Protection Trust, has watched several animals die this way. According to

Warwick, alligators are simply skinned alive on a busy day in alligator

farms, and survive like that for hours before dying. Documentary footage

from Asian reptile farms also shows snakes and lizards being tortured for

their prized skin. With meat hooks piercing their heads, they are

disemboweled before their skins are pulled off. Dealers believe that the

practice of skinning reptiles alive makes the skin more supple.

 

Aside from making fashion statements, reptiles also make popular ingredients

for exotic dishes, traditional medicines and aphrodisiacs. There is an old

Chinese belief that snake blood mixed with an alcoholic drink is an

effective potion that increases sexual prowess.

 

In Vancouver's Chinatown, fish vendors sell live soft-shelled turtles in

bowls and chop them into pieces for soup. Christine Schramm of the

Rainforest Reptile Refuge Society in Surrey, B.C., keeps a soft-shelled

turtle that was rescued from the chopping block. Although she recognizes

that different cultures eat different kinds of animals, the treatment of

these wild animals seems particularly cruel. " They are slaughtered, " she

says, " they are chopped up alive. "

 

The ever-increasing demand for reptiles as food is just one of the many

factors that contribute to the growth of the reptile trade. The pet industry

also plays a role in this increase as demand for rare species has driven

prices upward, increasing the temptation to smuggle reptiles. " The illegal

importation of or trade in exotic animals is third to weapons and drugs, "

says Schramm. " It brings in millions of dollars every year, not only from

the hides but also from the live animals for the pet industry. " For example,

a Komodo dragon sells for $30,000 US on the black market while a Chinese

alligator costs $15,000 US. Even the Philippines' Gray's monitor, a species

that can be exported with a permit, commands a black market price of $8,000

US. These prices are way too high, even for a three-metre-long pet that can

bite your face off.

 

Yet, collectors are still buying. " I don't know what it is about reptiles, "

continues Schramm, " some eight or nine-year-old kids who come in here say,

ïWow, cool! Look at this! I'm gonna get one of these!Í I don't know what the

attraction is for them. . . . [but] I think itÍs our culture here in Canada

and in the U.S. that we have to possess things. We have to control - it's a

control thing. It's cool to have something captive in a cage. "

 

But to Fabian Dawson, editorial consultant of the Southeast Asia Post, who

wrote an article on the Asian reptile racket, it's all about the allure of

the exotic. " Who wants to have a snake at home? But then there are hundreds

and hundreds of people around the world who seem to think that it's good.

Man is such a collector himself. The more *rad* a thing is, the more he

wants to go out and get it. "

 

Media and the entertainment industry are also partly to blame for the

accelerated reptile trade, thanks to movies like* Jurassic Park*, *The Lost

World* and *Godzilla*. These movies depict reptiles as aggressive, violent

creatures, capable of destroying, maiming or killing. No ordinary, passive

household pet can bite its prey, thrash it left and right, and swallow it

whole. That's why these modern-day dinosaurs are popular.

 

In fact, these animals are so* cool* that the U.S., the dominant player in

the reptile trade, imported 1.8 million live reptiles worth $7 million US

and exported 9.7 million valued at more than $13.2 million US in 1997. This

is only the legal stuff. The bulk of the trade is illicit, and millions of

dollars worth of live reptiles are smuggled every year.

 

A case in point was the arrest of possibly the world's biggest illegal

reptile dealer and two of his cohorts in Mexico in September 1998.

Authorities from Mexico, Canada and the U.S. found in their possession the

following species: an Indonesian Komodo dragon, a rare New Zealand tuatara,

exotic Madagascar tortoises, Chinese alligators, Southeast Asian false

gavials and Philippine monitor lizards. Authorities are investigating how

these creatures left their original habitats and landed in Mexico.

 

Legal or illegal, the reptile trade has raised conservation fears. " We need

to step up research and take action to address fears that the trade is

impacting some of the world's wild reptile populations, " says Craig Hoover

of TRAFFIC North America. In his report, *The U.S. Role in the International

Live Reptile Trade: Amazon Tree Boas to Zululand Dwarf Chameleons*, he

recommends several actions to help ensure that the booming trade is

conducted in a manner that is beneficial to the world's wild reptile

populations. These include reviewing legislation and assessing effectiveness

of implementation and enforcement for identified hot spots like Indonesia

and Madagascar, where native reptile faunas continue to be threatened by

trade. The recommendations also call for improvements in the implementation

of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora, which regulates international trade in animals and

plants, and pursues trade bans. Yet animal rights lobbyists believe these

recommendations aren't enough to deter illegal traders. They clamour for

stiffer penalties in a trade where the risk of being caught is relatively

low - some even go so far as to suggest that authorities imprison offenders

and throw away the key. Other reptile advocates propose that animals with

scales and skin be provided the same dignity and respect afforded to those

with fur or feathers.

 

However, no amount of lobbying and recommending is likely to impact the

reptile trade as long as illegal animal dealers continue to disrespect

borders. And two recent smuggling incidents since the big bust in Mexico

serve as alarming reminders of this fact. The first case involved a Canadian

and a Dutchman flying in from Thailand. Both were arrested at Chiang

Kai-shek Airport trying to smuggle 303 endangered chameleons into Taiwan. In

the second case, authorities found 1,000 cobras on their way out of Jakarta

headed for Japan. Both cases happened within a span of less than two months.

The trade is alive and slithering.

Captive-Born Animals and Captive Breeders

 

Piers Leroux is a nature lover. As a kid in Ontario, he would go camping

with his father, also a nature lover. In the summer, Leroux would catch

garter snakes, let them have babies and release them afterwards. Then he

went on to bigger things. " We bought a boa, and within a couple of years, we

- between my two brothers and me - probably had 15 to 20 snakes. It went

from there. "

 

Indeed, it has gone from there. He has been breeding reptiles for more than

15 years. He breeds mainly boas, pythons and anacondas, and many of his

animals are worth around $10,000 Cdn. He modestly admits he's not a big

buyer or seller. Being a herpetologist or a herper, as some people in this

field are called, is just a hobby. According to Leroux, 95 per cent of

reptile traders are reputable. What's more, most legitimate dealers have no

reason to break the law. " It's more profitable to do it legally, " he says.

" Because the animals come in healthier, you can demand a higher price. For a

$35 permit and maybe three months of paperwork, you can bring a hundred

animals. . . . You're always going to get the odd guys who are smuggling

Komodo dragons and whatever. But on average, if you get a legal captive-born

animal, you don't want to deal with smuggled animals. "

 

As for the pitfalls of dealing in illegal reptiles, Leroux says: " If you

know they were smuggled, you are as responsible as the person who smuggled

[them]. If I said, 'Hey, look at these tortoises. They're illegal. I just

got them from Sri Lanka. Here, go ahead.Í And then you tried to sell them

and you got caught, you're going to go to jail or at least get fined. I'm

going to jail and get fined. It goes all the way down the line. So it's not

worth anybody's time to smuggle - not to me, anyway. "

 

Leroux also contends that those who operate legally through captive breeding

make it harder for the black marketers. A good example of how captive

breeding makes smuggling less profitable is the case of the bearded dragon.

Australia, its country of origin, had a no-export rule on this reptile for

years except to zoos. Twenty years ago, it fetched a price of $500,000.

Because it was easy to breed, every herper was breeding it. Now anyone can

get bearded dragon babies for $15, thanks to captive breeding. Its low price

deters dealers from smuggling the reptile out of Australia. Another example

is the ball python. There are so many being bred in North America today that

almost nobody exports them anymore.

 

Not all reptiles are as lucky as the bearded dragon or the ball python. The

illegal trade still continues for some species. Leroux laments, " It's wrong.

It should stop. ThereÍs still enough people buying these animals. ThatÍs

unfortunately always going to be the way„even if people are aware of it. If

there's a good deal on an animal, people will take it. Or if there's

something that's hard to get, and this guy has it, there's a lot of people

who won't question where an animal came from. "

 

However, Leroux believes that we will see less and less smuggling as the

years go by because of the availability of permits and licenses, improved

shipping and the growing demand for healthier animals. But until then,

Leroux advises us to buy captive. " No matter what you think of any of these

exotic-animal people, every time you see an animal - a frog, a lizard, a

turtle, a snake - in a store that has been captive-born, it's one less

animal that has been taken out of the wild. " Captive breeders breed

reptiles; illegal reptile traders breed contempt.

 

*Photos by Brent Matsuda

and Environment Canada, Wildlife Enforcement Section, Pacific and Yukon

Region *