South American frogs enter Asian wildlife trade market

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Intrigue over poison arrow frog trade

http://www.traffic.org/home/2010/4/1/intrigue-over-poison-arrow-frog-trade.html

 

The Green-and-black Poison Frog *Dendrobates auratus* was the poison arrow frog

species most frequently reported in international trade, although there were

some unexplained anomalies in the trade data — There are

suspicious discrepancies in the numbers of South American poison arrow frogs

reported in international trade, according to a new study published in the

journal Biodiversity and Conservation.

 

Vincent Nijman of the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group and Chris

Shepherd of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia analysed international trade records

reported to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) between 2004 and 2008 in poison arrow frogs

species native to South and Central America.

 

They uncovered a number of discrepancies in the data. Kazakhstan, for

example, reported no trade whatsoever in poison arrow frogs, but between

2004 and 2008, Thailand claimed to have imported more than 2,500 originating

from Kazakhstan, via Lebanon.

 

“It is probably highly significant that exports from Kazakhstan to Thailand

went via Lebanon, a non-Party to CITES who, therefore, would be under no

obligation to report the transfer,” said Chris Shepherd, Senior Programme

Officer with TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

 

“Further investigations should be carried out into the reasons why this

particular route was reportedly used and authorities should also be alerted

to the possibility that specimens declared as captive-bred could be

wild-caught and are being laundered into the international trade”.

 

Many poison arrow frogs are brightly coloured to act as a warning to

predators, which has led to them becoming popular as exotic pets in Europe

and North America, and increasingly in Asia. They are so-called because of

their toxic skin secretions, used by indigenous people in South America as

poison on the tips of blow-darts.

 

“The popularity of poison arrow frogs as pets has led to some species being

over-harvested in the wild, putting them at risk,” said Nijman.

 

In total, the analysis found that more than 63,000 poison arrow frogs of 32

species were traded internationally between 2004 and 2008. For 21 species

the majority of individuals were reported as captive-bred. Around a fifth

were destined for markets in Asia - Japan, Thailand and Taiwan - where

keeping exotic pets is becoming increasingly popular.

 

Five of the species reported in trade are regarded by IUCN, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature, as at risk of global

extinction. They include the Golden Poison Frog Phyllobates terribilis, an

Endangered species known only from tiny areas on the Pacific coast of

Colombia. Of 342 reported in trade, 287 were claimed to have been

captive-bred, 200 of them in Kazakhstan.

 

Similarly, 100 of the 213 Epipedobates tricolor reported in trade—a species

known from just seven localities in Ecuador—were said to be captive-bred in

Kazakhstan, while 200 of the 220 reported captive-bred Black-legged Poison

Frogs *Phyllobates bicolor*, a Near Threatened species, were also claimed to

have originated in the Central Asian country.

 

The authors recommend better accuracy in reporting and investigations into

the origin of pets in international trade to ensure wild-caught specimens

are not being laundered under the guise of being captive-bred.

 

Last month, representatives of 175 member governments to CITES met in Doha,

Qatar and voted for stronger controls over the international trade in

Central American treefrogs, and effectively banned all commercial trade in

Kaiser’s Spotted Newts from Iran.

 

“While a CITES listing will help both the treefrogs and the newt threatened

by trade, as the poison arrow frog case demonstrates, a listing is only

useful if it is properly adhered to,” said Nijman.

 

*Notes*

All species of poison arrow frog (genera *Dendrobates*, *Phyllobates*,

*Epipedobates

*and *Cryptophyllobates*) are listed in Appendix II of CITES, thereby

regulating international commercial trade in the species.

 

The paper by Vincent Nijman and Chris R. Shepherd The role of Asia in the

global trade in CITES II-listed poison arrow frogs: hopping from Kazakhstan

to Lebanon to Thailand and beyond is published in the journal Biodiversity

and Conservation. It is available online at:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/b013x81t3306565k/fulltext.pdf

 

*For further information:*

*Chris R. Shepherd*, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia (in Malaysia) Tel: +603

78803940, cell: +6 012 234 0790, E-mail: cstsea

 

*Elizabeth John*, Senior Communications Officer, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia,

Tel: +603 7880 3940, Email: jlizzjohn

 

*Richard Thomas*, Communications Co-ordinator, TRAFFIC. Tel: +44 1223

279068, mob + 44 752 6646 216.

E-mail richard.

 

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