Exotic pet trade thrives in Pacific island nation
The monkey-tailed skink, a striped native lizard that dangles from trees, is most coveted in the Solomon Islands.
Daily TribuneThe monkey-tailed skink, a striped native lizard that dangles from trees, is most coveted in the Solomon Islands.
Locals standing in front of a sign warning vendors against the live wildlife trade, in the capital city of the Solomon Islands, on April 21.
AFP
HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AFP) — The Pacific’s Solomon Islands has become a key player in the global live animal trade, with foreign collectors sourcing exotic species including some subject to trade bans, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) investigation has found.
Conservationist testimony, official documents and United Nations data show native Solomon Islands lizards being shipped to the United States (US), wild birds plucked from verdant rainforests and sent to the Middle East, and dolphins destined for Chinese aquariums.
Some wild animals can be captured and sold legally, but the trade in vulnerable species is governed by strict rules or even bans.
That has not stopped traders keen to cash in on the lucrative market for exotic pets.
They are targeting species that are already considered at risk, and are actively threatening the future of others, said Solomons ecologist Patrick Pikacha.
“There’s no studies. No monitoring. It’s just every man for himself,” Pikacha told.
Solomon Islands has stunning ecological diversity, and is teeming with vibrantly colored parrots, tree-dwelling lizards, swooping mega bats and more.
But it is the only Pacific island that participates in the legal wildlife trade, and its most unusual species are increasingly popular pets.
One of the most coveted is the monkey-tailed skink, a striped native lizard that dangles from trees using a prehensile tail.
Designated near-threatened, trade in the reptile was suspended in 2001 under an international conservation treaty overseen by the United Nations (UN).
But UN export figures show a thriving market.
