Pets

The capture of wild animals to supply the pet trade represents one of the greatest destructive pressures on natural habitat and wildlife species. The rarest species are the most valued in the international pet trade. For example, the turtle Chelodina mccordi, found only on the small Indonesian island of Roti, and the gecko Goniurosaurus luii from southeastern China, became much more desirable to collectors one their numbers had declined and their price had escalated. Following heavy exploitation C. Mccordi is now almost extinct in the wild and G. Luii is extirpated from its type locality.

The European Union is a major global market for wildlife trade and demand for exotic pets has increased with the expansion of EU borders. The trade is largely unregulated and unsustainable. Fuelled by the growing demand within the EU for exotic pets, illegal wildlife trade is believed to be escalating. It is difficult to give a reliable estimate of the size of the illegal trade but it is thought to represent at least one quarter of the total trade.

The exotic pet trade causes suffering to millions of animals. Many wild-trapped animals die from the stress and disease associated with capture and the various stages of the trade process. Those that survive often suffer neglect or are abandoned when their owners find that they lack the necessary expertise to care for them. Wild – as opposed to domesticated – animals, whether they are taken from the wild or captive-bred, often struggle to cope with artificial environments.

Exotic pets carry many diseases that are transmissible to humans (zoonoses). Avian influenza and reptile-related salmonellosis are amongst the most notorious examples. Primate species pose a particularly serious zoonotic disease risk given their close taxonomic relationship to humans.; transmissable diseases include monkeypox, herpes B and tuberculosis.

Many pet owners lose or deliberately release exotic species into the wild. Where non-native species are able to adapt and breed, they can pose significant threats to native bio-diversity and economies. Furthermore, the pet trade offers a perfect route for natural fauna to be infected with diseases that can threaten whole populations.
Livestock industries are also at risk from disease issues associated with wildlife trade – it has been estimated that damage to these industries has cost hundreds of billions of dollars globally.

Organisations within ENDCAP are working to curtail wildlife markets in Germany, Spain and the UK and are currently lobbying the Norwegian Government to retain a long-term ban on the trade and ownership of reptiles and amphibians as pets.

• ENDCAP seeks an end to the importation of animals from the wild for the pet trade.
• ENDCAP lobbies for greater restrictions on the types of animals kept as pets
• ENDCAP endeavours to raise greater awareness of the welfare needs of those wild animal species currently kept by private individuals in order to reduce demand for wild animals as pets.