Posted on 16 June 2011
Bangkok, Thailand —Thailand’s pet dealers
are supplying large numbers of Madagascar’s
most threatened reptiles and amphibians
to local and international markets, despite
unanswered questions
over the legality of the imports, a new
TRAFFIC report has found.
A 15-day survey of 32 vendors in Bangkok
and eight Thai provinces by TRAFFIC investigators
found 591 specimens of Malagasy reptiles
and amphibians available for sale.
“Of particular concern
was the large scale trade in endemic Malagasy
chameleons,” states their report, Trade
in Madagascar’s endemic reptiles and amphibians
in Thailand.
The investigators found 233 chameleons representing
16 species for sale in markets, shops and
internet traders’ homes, including the Antsingy
Leaf Chameleon, a species whose international
commercial trade is prohibited under CITES
(Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
While some chameleon
species from Madagascar can be legally traded
with permits, up to 78 percent—some 3,738
individuals—imported to Thailand between
2004 and 2005, had been declared as “captive-bred”
in Kazakhstan or re-exported from Lebanon,
notes the report.
However, analysis of
official trade data showed that Kazakhstan
had reported no imports of chameleons from
Madagascar, nor had any country reported
exports of Malagasy chameleons to Kazakhstan.
Clearly imports of Malagasy chameleons are
a pre-requisite to establishing captive
breeding populations and many of the exports
went to Lebanon, from where they were re-exported
to Thailand.
“If large-scale captive-breeding
operations of Malagasy chameleons are indeed
taking place in Kazakhstan, where did they
source their breeding stock and why are
many of the exports going via Lebanon, a
country that is not a party to CITES?” asks
Chris Shepherd, Deputy Director of TRAFFIC
South-East Asia.
Official trade data
show Lebanon legally imported 32 Madagascan
chameleons in 2005 from CITES Parties.
“Even at the highest theoretical hatching
and survival rates, it is impossible for
32 chameleons to produce the thousands of
offspring Thailand declared as imported
from Lebanon in subsequent years, so how
is the shortfall accounted for?” asks Shepherd.
Other species discovered
during TRAFFIC’s investigations in Thailand
included over a hundred Radiated Tortoises,
dozens of Spider Tortoises, and three Ploughshare
Tortoises—three of the world’s rarest tortoise
species. All are classified by IUCN as Critically
Endangered and international commercial
trade in all is banned under CITES. The
Radiated Tortoise population is believed
to have shrunk to 30% or less of its former
range in south-west Madagascar since 2009.
According to Richard
Hughes, WWF’s Representative in Madagascar:
“We know there is a significant ongoing
illegal trade in protected species from
Madagascar, mainly destined for Asia, which
has been exacerbated by the current political
situation in the country leading to weaker
enforcement of existing laws and safeguarding
of protected areas.”
TRAFFIC’s investigations
found that trade in Malagasy reptiles and
amphibians, once concentrated in Bangkok’s
Chatuchak market, has now spread to provincial
towns and is rife on the Internet, with
evidence to suggest a network of dealers
who supply both national and international
clients.
The report urges Thai authorities to investigate
and put a stop to imports from questionable
sources through international co-operation.
It also calls for stern action against traders
who sell illegal reptiles and amphibians.
“Traders who sell illegally acquired reptiles
and amphibians show total contempt for the
law and undermine Thailand’s enforcement
efforts,” said Shepherd.
For example, last week, more than 800 protected
reptiles were interdicted by Thai authorities
at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“Seizures of Malagasy
chameleons by airport authorities are testament
to the continuing illegal trade, but as
the current report amply demonstrates, only
through making regular visits to markets
stalls and other vendors can we hope to
unearth the true scale of the illicit trade
and its potential impact on wild chameleon
populations,” said Dr Richard Jenkins, Chair
of the IUCN/SSC Chameleon Specialist Group.
In 2013, Thailand will host the next meeting
of the conference of the Parties to CITES,
which representatives of 175 governments
are expected to attend to discuss wildlife
trade issues.
