Smugglers at it again

[it_bit_me]

It is rare stuff. I have only seen a picture on SArep 11 ‎August ‎2010. Anyway back on topic - burn bastard burn

[Chopper 1]

I have mixed feelings on this one!! I think the jail sentence is harsh considering the fact that you are allowed to kill snakes but you can't collect them If he was using crowbar type collecting and also in a protected area then by all means throw the book at him, but some of the comments here uncalled for in my opinion.

I wish him good luck and hope that he will be released soon.

C1

[Bushviper]

Well they were in a protected area. What is ironic is I was offered some B. worthingtoni that are captive bred in the Netherlands and possibly came from a previous shipment of Simon's. This species is now in the trade and is being captive bred and distributed so the need to collect more actually just became less. Indirectly he possibly did the species a favour.

If Kenya thought that this action was going to protect the species more than before they missed that boat. They are still losing elephants every year and they dont have any viable rhino populations left despite what they are doing.

A little more than a decade ago people in Europe were coming to South Africa regularly to slip across to Namibia and collect the Angolan Dwarf python and Angolan coral snakes. These were collected on a regular basis by Simon and taken to Europe and some were shipped to America. Today there is ZERO incentive to come poach these two species and they have very little value. The Coral snakes can barely be sold because they are bred in their hundreds and some people I know do not bother to breed Dwarf pythons because they are worth so little. Have the Namibian populations suffered? I cannot find any evidence of that.

Very few countries do not allow exports of their wild reptiles. Australia, Kenya and South Africa are three of the countries that spring to mind. 10 years ago there were only a handful of Rough scaled pythons ever found in secluded parts of Australia. Today you can buy them on the internet for a few thousand dollars. Australia has never exported a single specimen legally but some have found there way around the world. In ten years time they will only be worth a few hundred dollars if that much.

There are a few examples of where certain individuals have actually ensured that nobody would bother to go and poach these animals and expose them to all sorts of risks in the process of getting them home because they are now available far cheaper than even just a flight to the countries in question.

If this is compared with the hundreds of thousands of pythons killed for their skins (legally) or the hundreds of reptiles killed on the roads in any National park every year then does the few animals involved really make any difference?

I am not condoning any illegal activity but if there was a legal possibility then the utilization of wildlife could be achieved with minimal stress on the environment.

[Chopper 1]

Well they were in a protected area. What is ironic is I was offered some B. worthingtoni that are captive bred in the Netherlands and possibly came from a previous shipment of Simon's. This species is now in the trade and is being captive bred and distributed so the need to collect more actually just became less. Indirectly he possibly did the species a favour.

If Kenya thought that this action was going to protect the species more than before they missed that boat. They are still losing elephants every year and they dont have any viable rhino populations left despite what they are doing.

A little more than a decade ago people in Europe were coming to South Africa regularly to slip across to Namibia and collect the Angolan Dwarf python and Angolan coral snakes. These were collected on a regular basis by Simon and taken to Europe and some were shipped to America. Today there is ZERO incentive to come poach these two species and they have very little value. The Coral snakes can barely be sold because they are bred in their hundreds and some people I know do not bother to breed Dwarf pythons because they are worth so little. Have the Namibian populations suffered? I cannot find any evidence of that.

Very few countries do not allow exports of their wild reptiles. Australia, Kenya and South Africa are three of the countries that spring to mind. 10 years ago there were only a handful of Rough scaled pythons ever found in secluded parts of Australia. Today you can buy them on the internet for a few thousand dollars. Australia has never exported a single specimen legally but some have found there way around the world. In ten years time they will only be worth a few hundred dollars if that much.

There are a few examples of where certain individuals have actually ensured that nobody would bother to go and poach these animals and expose them to all sorts of risks in the process of getting them home because they are now available far cheaper than even just a flight to the countries in question.

If this is compared with the hundreds of thousands of pythons killed for their skins (legally) or the hundreds of reptiles killed on the roads in any National park every year then does the few animals involved really make any difference?

I am not condoning any illegal activity but if there was a legal possibility then the utilization of wildlife could be achieved with minimal stress on the environment.

Perfect post - and the FACTS are a reality - policing something like this does nothing to help our reptiles - it just keeps the bunny huggers "fed" with garbage!!

[Lilli]

@ Chopper 1
Please do not generalise in your posts
You do not know all the "bunny huggers" out there, some of us are passionate reptile keepers such as yourself...
and don't feed on garbage

[it_bit_me]

I have mixed feelings on this one!! I think the jail sentence is harsh considering the fact that you are allowed to kill snakes but you can't collect them If he was using crowbar type collecting and also in a protected area then by all means throw the book at him, but some of the comments here uncalled for in my opinion.

I wish him good luck and hope that he will be released soon.

C1

Standing up for him is very amicable but you have to see it from others' view aswel. If you have been sold these animals to have them die a few days later would you still call him a cool little snakeman ? I personally think him and Terence Whittle are money hungry sacks of $^%#.

[Rabid.Evo8691]

As a general warning I would advise against protesting against them in public.
My life has been threatened numerously.
Just as such as with the drug trade fighting it is useless.

Wherever you get your animals make sure they come from a legitimate source.
That is the only way to succeed in erasing them.

[Rabid.Evo8691]

How can you eliminate the drug traffic trade in our country when a major part of our police force is on their payroll?

It is likewise with the animal trade.
Pointless fighting someone that is doing things illegally when the people in power stick up for them.
All my attempts at weeding out a certain breeder in our country ended up in death threats and cowboys stating they want nothing to do with it.

I had enough proof at the time and it meant nothing when everyone gets a slice of the apple pie.

[Rabid.Evo8691]

Two wrongs don't make a right.
Quiet a few tarantula species were discovered in Brazil last year. What is kinda sublime is that exporting tarantulas out of the country is illegal but I can bet you in a few years all the bigshot tarantula breeders in the world would of acquired some. Even in our own country.

Makes you think where the root of all this is sourced to.....or who it is that are the culprits

[it_bit_me]

As a general warning I would advise against protesting against them in public.
My life has been threatened numerously.

That is a problem on its own . People like you are just as lame as the guy handing out threats. You expect others to stand up to them after you've made them so use to getting away with it

[Rabid.Evo8691]

I don't see your attempts doing any justice so before judging others take the splinter shard out of your own eye first