by Tie Black » Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:23 pm
Hi nortinus
It is currently illegal to keep tarantulas or baboon spiders as pets in the Western Cape. Tarantulas and baboon spiders are illegal in the Western Cape, and baboon spiders are illegal in all provinces. It makes absolutely NO difference if they were bred in captivity or not! Be careful believing what people tell you.
The person(Leanne) who told you that you can keep a "Cape baboon spider" legally, is talking rubbish. And likely the only reason she said that, is because she has absolutely no clue what the law says, and knows nothing about tarantulas or baboon spiders.
Firstly...lets take the name: "Cape baboon spider"
Is this Western Cape, Eastern Cape or Northern Cape? There are currently 23 described baboon spider species from the provinces with a "Cape" in.
Secondly...who uses a common name when describing an animal that is allowed to be kept legally? I know nothing about snakes, but it would be similar to saying, "Sure, you can keep black snakes legally." My idea of a black snake might be completely different to someone elses idea of a black snake. A mole snake and a black mamba come to mind! It makes absolutely no sense.
Its true that these officials would likely not know the difference between a local spider and a tarantula, but I know that experts have been used to identify smuggled animals before, and if I was asked to identify a baboon spider for Nature conservation officials, I would do it gladly.
I'd rather have a situation where someone is keeping an exotic, captive bred tarantula and keeping quiet about it, than somebody hiding the fact that they have collected a baboon spider out of its natural habitat, and are keeping it as a pet.
Good luck finding(and keeping quiet about) a tarantula.