Why We Should Be Worried About the Rise in Demand for Exotic Animals
This article is part of the special WCT Blog series which will focus on the growing demand for exotic species in India and the urgent need for stronger wildlife laws for better regulation of the same.
Reptiles are the most extensively traded vertebrates on the exotic pet market. Bearded dragon, seen here, is popularly kept as a pet. This image is representational. Nakon CC BY-SA 3.0
Evil is in the objectification of animals. The anthropocentric worldview regards animals as unintelligent, non-sentient, inferior beings, incapable of feeling, suffering, or thinking a complex thought, when it couldn’t be further from the scientific truth. Globally, people’s fascination with possessing wild animals has given rise to the cruel pet trade that feeds the larger illegal wildlife trade. The complex behavioural, intellectual, nutritional and psychological needs of the wild animals are seldom met in captive conditions in homes or pet markets. In short, wild animals are not meant to be kept as pets.
“Besides being a major law enforcement concern, the illegal trade in exotic species poses myriad problems. Buyers leave no stone unturned to acquire and keep wild animals, no matter what the cost. Unfortunately, many of them don’t have the understanding and resources to provide such animals a wholesome life in captivity. As a quick fix, many of them release their “unmanageable” wildlife into local habitats, which has exacerbated the risks already posed to India’s wildlife. Thus, the biggest cost of this entire trade is paid by wild animals who are commodified instead of being valued as the guardians and keepers of the world’s ecosystems that they are. This puts not just the planet’s biodiversity and climate at risk but also undermines the very ecosystem services that mankind benefits from,” says C. Samyukta, Head, Forensics, Wildlife Conservation Trust
The Making of a Sinister Crisis
Worryingly, India is witnessing a growing demand for exotic animals. Innumerable live exotic species are smuggled into India every year in deplorable conditions, and countless Indians blithely choose to purchase and keep these animals as pets. There is a debilitating lack of knowledge, awareness, and sensitivity among people about the different species made available in various pet markets. Are the animals native or not? Where are they sourced from? Is it illegal and unethical? Are they captive-bred or captured from the wild? What do their nutritional and behavioural requirements entail? Will I be able to provide good standards of welfare for the animal in question? These are the questions most pet owners do not bother with prior to bringing an animal home. This deficiency partially stems from the virtual lawlessness that prevails in the country when it comes to domestic trade in exotic as well as native species. While India’s wildlife protection laws deem it illegal to trade in and possess native animal species, exotic animals have been left out in the cold. And traders and traffickers have been exploiting this legal shortfall to the fullest. When exotic animals are easily available with such impunity, people will buy them, thus, ensuring that the vicious cycle of demand-supply continues. Simply visit a pet market like the Crawford Market in Mumbai where illegal traders converge to sell their loot. Many illegal pet shops and live animal markets have mushroomed all over the country. The Russel Market in Bengaluru, Mir Shikar Toli in Patna and Murgi Chowk in Hyderabad are some examples of markets trading in live wildlife.
In April 2020, Wildlife Conservation Society, India, released a report that mapped the various wildlife markets in India. An estimated 25 markets across the country were found to be trading in live wildlife. The report stresses on the ‘Global Health Implications of Wildlife Trade’. The unhygienic, cramped conditions of live animal markets where myriad wild animal species are clumped together, is essentially creating a conducive breeding ground for pathogen exchange between different species, where potentially harmful bacteria and viruses are able to jump hosts, breaching the species barrier. Every step of the trade involves close human-wildlife interactions and markets are often densely populated spots. Thus, humans are just as likely to be picked up as hosts by the pathogens. The SARS-COV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease in humans is believed to have had its genesis in a wet market in China.
“Exotic animals are currently imported or bred in captivity and often housed in conditions that induce stress. Animals under duress are known to shed more pathogens than otherwise. This, combined with the fact that multiple species are housed together, in close proximity, is a disaster waiting to happen,” says Sumanth Bindumadhav, Senior Manager, Wildlife, Disaster Response and Dharwad Program, Humane Society International/India.
The Worst Affected
BirdLife International, in July 2021, made some shocking revelations through their research that uncovered the massive scale of India’s illegal wild bird trade crisis. The report indicates the severe threat that the illegal bird trade hub in India is posing for its native species as well as innumerable exotic bird species in this era of growing demand for wild birds as pets and for food. Even though trading in native bird species is banned by the government of India, markets for native birds still persist. But, the ban has also caused the traders and traffickers to shift their focus on to exotic species. It is reported that over 100 exotic species of birds are now trafficked into India’s black markets.
Parrots are one of the most threatened groups of birds on the planet. The pet trade is largely to blame. This image is representational. Credit: Public Domain
It is quite common to see caged birds up for sale in most pet shops. From lovebirds, budgerigars and innumerable other species of parrots such as cockatoos and macaws, birds are popular pets. But, this trend has come with its heavy costs. Parrots are the most heavily traded birds in the world, and wild populations of many parrot species have been severely hit. Coupled with the demand for the pet trade, forest habitat loss and degradation, hunting, and expansion of agriculture have caused the populations of nearly 56 percent of all parrot species in the world to dwindle. A 2016 study by the Australian University and BirdLife International indicated that parrots “face a higher rate of extinction than any other comparable bird group”.
It is reptiles which are the most extensively traded vertebrates on the exotic pet market. But since, legally there is no regulation of the exotic pet trade in India, it becomes hard to gauge the real scale of the trade in reptiles and other animal groups. A study titled ‘A Looming Exotic Reptile Pet Trade in India: Patterns and Knowledge Gaps’ published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa in May 2021, attempted to asses the exotic reptile pet trade in the country. It was found that an estimated 84 exotic species of reptiles are being traded in the country, of which five are categorised as Critically Endangered, nine as Endangered and nine as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. According to the study, 98.6 percent of the reptiles imported between 1976 and 2018 went unreported to the CITES Management Authorities in India. It was further observed that even native species of reptiles that are legally protected in India, get invariably sucked into the vortex of the exotic pet trade network, affecting their populations in the wild.
Internet has proven to be an agent of doom in this scenario. The virtual space offered by the social networking platforms is extensive. Over social media, the aforementioned study shows, 31 species of lizards, 12 species of snakes and 27 species of turtles were traded over the period of 2018-2020. Ball pythons were the most commonly traded snakes in the list. Even the highly venomous snakes such as the Gaboon viper which is native to Africa, and the white-lipped snake, endemic to Australia and Tasmania, were found to be traded online.
Pragatheesh, A., V. Deepak, H.V. Girisha & M.S. Tomar (2021) A looming exotic reptile pet trade in India: patterns and knowledge gaps. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(6): 18518-18531. https://doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.6998.13.6.18518-18531. © Pragatheesh et al. 2021. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The monitoring of online trade revealed that the majority of traders trading in live exotic reptiles in India were based out of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Exotic Invasion
In my previous articles in the series, I had discussed the various repercussions of the illegal wildlife trade in the form of species extinctions, crippled livelihoods, threat to national security, violation of human rights, and outbreaks of infectious zoonotic diseases. Another dire consequence of the illegal wildlife trade, essentially the burgeoning pet trade, is the serious threat of invasive species.
Exotic species, by very definition, is a species that does not naturally belong to a particular area and has been introduced through artificial means as a non-native or alien. It is when these alien species begin to upset the functioning of an ecosystem by posing a threat to the native biodiversity and habitat, are they labelled as invasive species. The exotic pet trade has been identified as one the predominant causes behind the growing problem of invasive species worldwide.
There is utter illiteracy when it comes to the knowledge of exotic species, their behaviour and the extent of animal care and enrichment that is required to maintain them. Often people either buy exotic animals without thinking it through and eventually tire of maintaining their pets and choose to intentionally release them. Sometimes, pets are accidentally set loose and escape. But the consequences of alien species in native habitats prove to be disastrous for the environment. If the species turn invasive, they can severely disrupt food chains, modify habitats, and even result in local extinction of native species.
A great example of invasives is the red-eared slider, a turtle species that has been classified as the ‘World’s Worst Invasive Alien Species’ by the IUCN’s Invasive Species Specialist Group. Native to the United States, the red-eared sliders have known to have turned invasive in over 70 countries, including India. Red-eared sliders have been recorded in innumerable water bodies across the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, Punjab, Hyderabad, Rajasthan and Goa in India, and is believed to be a threat to the native turtle species and other aquatic biodiversity. Between 2018-2020, more than 12,000 red-eared slider individuals were seized by the custom authorities from Trichy and Chennai International airports in Tamil Nadu.
Another exotic animal species that has made silent inroads into water bodies in India is the suckermouth sailfin catfish, which is hugely popular as an ornamental aquarium fish. This bottom feeder, native to South America, has been identified as a serious threat to the local aquatic species in recent times.
The suckermouth sailfin catfish (Pterygoplichthys spp.) native to South America, has invaded freshwater aquatic systems in and India and several other countries, owing to the ornamental fish trade.Credit: J.N. Stuart_ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
“Since time immemorial alien invasive species have created havoc in countries they get accidently or deliberately released into. Snakes, fish, rodents, cats, dogs, plants, insects and humans, pretty much all kinds of species have from time-to-time invaded new regions and outcompeted local flora and fauna to their predicament. With a growing body of knowledge countries have consciously started guarding against such introductions. Nevertheless, the illegal nature of wildlife pet trade ensures that all kinds of checks and balances are violated. Apart from having a devastating impact on the population of a traded species in its source country, exotic pet trade has the potential to destabilise natural ecosystems in the consumer country through accidental or deliberate releases of exotic animals, either due to direct predation of native flora and fauna by released wildlife or through transfer of deadly diseases that native species are not immune to. The negative impact of irresponsible and self-centred behaviour of exotic pet keepers cannot be overstated and should be nullified through watertight transboundary laws and treaties,” says Dr. Anish Andheria, President, Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Government Advisory to Regulate Domestic Trade in Exotic Species: Teeth or No Teeth?
On the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the world’s attention fell on the severe fallout of the illegal wildlife trade and black markets, and the resulting growing chorus to curb the international trade in wildlife, India’s Environment Ministry issued an advisory in June 2020 asking citizens to voluntarily declare any undocumented exotic live animals in their possession, particularly the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) listed species. Amnesty was promised in return for declaration of the undocumented exotic animals. While this has been hailed by many as a promising first step in the quest to regulate trade of exotic species in the country and a good way of “developing an inventory of exotic live species by the means of a voluntary disclosure scheme to streamline CITES compliance,”, several others point out the speciousness of the advisory.
According to the IndiaSpend report, nearly 32,000 Indians came forward to disclose the exotic live animals in their possession for which they had no legal permits or licenses. As per the RTI filed by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, 43,693 applications for amnesty were made in response to this advisory. Rare and endangered animals (some critically endangered) such as the black-and-white ruffed lemur and the East African oryx, both endemic to Africa, were found to be owned by individuals. Even kangaroos and rhinoceros iguanas were disclosed by various individuals. There are plenty more of such shocking examples. But, as per the Advisory, even those exotic animals acquired through illegal means would not be held liable or accountable. But, does granting of such an impunity to those who may have illegally imported exotic live animals violate India’s commitment under CITES?
According to the legal experts at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, “the advisory [is not] in consonance with domestic law.” Vidhi’s review on the advisory published on their website further reads – “Firstly, the attempt to regularise possession of exotic species by way of an advisory instead of a legislation is inherently flawed… Secondly, the advisory in question does not specify which parent statute it has been passed under. For any form of subordinate legislation to have teeth, it is necessary that it must be passed under a parent law. This advisory does not clearly state what parent law it has been issued under, and therefore lacks the force of the law.
The advisory has proven that India is indeed a demand country in the global trade for wildlife. 43,693 applications for legitimising possession of exotic wildlife are as many applications that may have escaped the clutches of the law while indulging in a lethal trade. There is little doubt that there must be a law governing exotic live animals in the country, but an advisory of this nature will only end up fuelling the trade and put the country at a greater risk in the midst of a deadly pandemic.”
Read other articles in the series:
- India’s Growing Fetish for Wildlife Of The Exotic Kind
- Why India Needs Stronger Laws to Protect Exotic Species on its Soil
- [Expert Speak] Law Over Advisory is the Urgent Need of the Hour
- Forced to Pay the Ultimate Price for the Pet Trade
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About the author: Purva Variyar is a conservationist, science communicator and conservation writer. She works with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and has previously worked with Sanctuary Nature Foundation and The Gerry Martin Project.
Disclaimer: The author is associated with Wildlife Conservation Trust. The views and opinions expressed in the article are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Wildlife Conservation Trust.
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