HSUS Wants to Ban all Reptiles

For Immediate Release

September 6, 2001

Contact Information:

Dr. Teresa Telecky: (301) 258-3142
Rachel Querry: (301) 258-8255

HUMANE SOCIETY OF U.S. RELEASES GROUNDBREAKING REPORT: REPTILES AS PETS - AN EXAMINATION OF THE TRADE IN LIVE REPTILES IN THE UNITED STATES

Report Cites Health Threats to Humans, Wildlife, Agricultural Animals; Conservation Concerns - Calls on Government to Ban Import/Export and Sale of Reptiles in the United States

WASHINGTON (September 6, 2001) - The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal protection organization, today released a landmark report that calls on the federal government to ban the import, export, and retail sales of live reptiles in the United States.

The report, Reptiles as Pets: An Examination of the Trade in Live Reptiles in the United States, documents and exposes the abuses of the $2 billion dollar a year industry and cites health threats to humans, wildlife, and agricultural animals, as well as conservation and humane concerns, as reasons for banning the trade.

Among the report's findings:

Human Health Hazards All reptiles carry Salmonella bacteria. The bacteria, shed in the feces, can contaminate the animal's skin, enclosure, and virtually any surface with which it comes into contact. The National Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a 1999 report stating that reptile-related salmonellosis posed a significant threat to human health. More than 93,000 cases of reptile-related salmonellosis occur each year and the number continues to rise as reptiles gain in popularity. Particularly at risk are seniors, immunocompromised individuals, and children. The CDC report includes many case histories of illnesses contracted from pet reptiles, including the death of a five-month-old Wisconsin boy who contracted salmonellosis from a pet iguana.

Health Hazards to Domestic Livestock and Wildlife In March 2000, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued an emergency ban on the importation and interstate commerce of three species of African tortoise known to carry species of ticks that harbor bacteria that cause heartwater disease. If heartwater, a degenerative wasting disease of ruminants, were to become established in the United States the USDA estimates that mortality rates of livestock (cattle, sheep, goats) and wildlife (deer, bison, antelope) could be expected to reach between 40 and 100 percent. The USDA is currently attempting to mandate a quarantine period for all imported reptiles. In addition, the release of unwanted pet reptiles into the wild has introduced viruses and bacteria common in captive reptiles into wild populations, posing a threat to natural stocks that hold little immunity to these exotic pathogens.

Conservation Concerns The wild-caught reptile trade and the trade in ranched or farmed reptiles, poses threats to wild populations. Among these are:

Over-collection: Often the number of animals collected from the wild exceeds the species' or stock's reproductive capabilities. Particularly endangered are wild turtles, including America's spotted, wood, and box turtles. Habitat destruction: Collection methods destroy dens and other valuable habitat of reptiles. Snakes in particular are often caught through destructive techniques. Exotic species: Unwanted reptiles released into the wild compete with native wildlife for food, habitat, and mates. A case in point is the red-eared slider turtle, which has been introduced into waterways in the United States and around the world, causing untold harm to native species.

Smuggling of rare reptiles: Endangered and threatened reptiles are valued because of their scarcity, driving a thriving illegal trade, decimating wild populations and threatening outright extinction in some species.

Humane Concerns Reptiles are among the most inhumanely treated animals in the pet trade. Because they are cheap and easily replaceable, dealers, captive breeders, and retailers factor huge mortality into their operating costs. An estimated 90 percent of all wild-caught reptiles are dead within the first year of captivity.

Despite all this, says Dr. Teresa Telecky, co-author of the report, reptiles as pets continue to grow in popularity, helping fuel an international trade that mounts into billions of dollars.

"More than 18 million reptiles were imported into the United States from 1989 to 1997," said Telecky, Director of the Wildlife Trade Program at The Humane Society of the United States.

In 1997 alone (the most recent year for which reptile import and export data is available), she notes, more than 1.7 million reptiles were imported into the U.S. The most commonly imported reptiles are lizards (70%), followed by turtles (15%), snakes (12.8%), and crocodilians (1.0).

The numbers of reptiles exported from the United States, nearly 58 million between 1989-97, dwarfs the import figures. In 1997 some 9.3 million reptiles, most wild-caught, were exported from American shores destined for the foreign pet and hobbyist trade, and for use as food and as ingredients in Asian traditional medicines. The most commonly exported reptiles are turtles (96.6%), lizards (2.4%), snakes (0.5%), and crocodilians (0.2%).

Domestically, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association (APPMA), almost four million households in the United States in 2000 contained one or more pet reptiles or amphibians, a 44 percent increase since 1998. About nine million reptiles and amphibians (collectively known as "herps") were kept as pets in the United States in 2000, a more than 10-percent increase since 1998.

The most popular pets are turtles. Forty-six percent of herp-owning households in the U.S. have one or more turtles followed by snakes (22%), iguanas (18%), and lizards (17%).

Adding to the problem, says Telecky, are misleading claims by the pet industry to the public about the appropriateness of reptiles as pets, falsely marketing reptiles as easier to care for than dogs or cats.

"The reality is that reptiles do not make good pets. They are hard to care for and often require specialized diets and environments," notes Telecky, who cites the 90% first-year mortality figures as proof that the general public often has little concept of just how difficult it is to raise and care for reptiles.

Moreover, reptiles can be dangerous. The upsurge in reptile ownership since the 1980s has meant an increase in the ownership of large and potentially dangerous snakes, particularly pythons and boas. There have been many near-fatal and several fatal incidents in recent years involving constrictors. In August, an eight-year-old Pennsylvania girl, Amber Mountain, was killed by the family's pet Burmese python.

Even the increasingly popular iguana can pose a threat. Sold as hatchlings or newborns, green iguanas grow to impressive size, reaching five to six feet in some cases, often becoming too large and aggressive to keep as pets.

Cast-off reptiles - snakes, turtles, lizards, iguanas, and crocodilians -- are often either released into the wild (where they either die or compete with native wildlife) or, increasingly, are surrendered to zoos or shelters where they are soon euthanized.

Telecky says the problems will continue to grow unless the reptile trade is banned.

"The Humane Society of the United States urges federal and state regulatory agencies to put an end to the reptile trade for the sake of public health, the safety of the nation's livestock and wildlife, and because of growing conservation concerns," says Telecky.

The HSUS is dedicated to the protection of all animals. For more information on the reptile trade, contact the HSUS on the Web at www.hsus.org and www.animalchannel.net.