marco
New member
- Joined
- May 23, 2007
- Messages
- 144
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 0
- Location
- festering away in stockport (UK)
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Display Name
- Marco Ferrigno
Im becoming increasingly concerned with the amount of what i suspect to be illegal Salamandra Terrestris that are becoming available within the Uk as of late.
I first noticed the problem looking at a few amphibian related web sites for the UK that had all suddenly sprung up with adult 'LTC' fire salamanders for sale.
Anyway my fears and suspicions were confirmed today when I had a flick through our wholesalers live stock list to find that there where indeed adult fire salamanders on the list. I will not be naming names (of shops or whole salers) and I can not prove that they are WC, but it doesnt take much to add one and one together and realise that people are still hoping over to france (or some one in france is hoping over to england), so I'm asking, if who ever is trying to make a quick penny is reading this please stop, or at least put a limit to what you are collecting. I'm all for bringing in new blood lines and even WC in controlled numbers for breeding projects but I can tell that this is another one of those spring time collections where they are caught en masse.
Oppinions people? To me this is quite worrying, French Salamandra populations are probably the hardest hit in all of Europe (Salamandra wise) in terms of collection for the pet trade, and if the ban on their import is not enough to stop the smuggling of them then what can be done for the salamanders future?
Im not trying to start a No WC thread (I'd be a hipocrite if i did), but I know that that these salamanders are collected during spring at a time that is most crucial to the preservation of the salamanders natural populations.
I first noticed the problem looking at a few amphibian related web sites for the UK that had all suddenly sprung up with adult 'LTC' fire salamanders for sale.
Anyway my fears and suspicions were confirmed today when I had a flick through our wholesalers live stock list to find that there where indeed adult fire salamanders on the list. I will not be naming names (of shops or whole salers) and I can not prove that they are WC, but it doesnt take much to add one and one together and realise that people are still hoping over to france (or some one in france is hoping over to england), so I'm asking, if who ever is trying to make a quick penny is reading this please stop, or at least put a limit to what you are collecting. I'm all for bringing in new blood lines and even WC in controlled numbers for breeding projects but I can tell that this is another one of those spring time collections where they are caught en masse.
Oppinions people? To me this is quite worrying, French Salamandra populations are probably the hardest hit in all of Europe (Salamandra wise) in terms of collection for the pet trade, and if the ban on their import is not enough to stop the smuggling of them then what can be done for the salamanders future?
Im not trying to start a No WC thread (I'd be a hipocrite if i did), but I know that that these salamanders are collected during spring at a time that is most crucial to the preservation of the salamanders natural populations.