Today I had a thought. Are beautiful things in danger of being destroyed by man, just because they are beautiful?
The reason for the thought, today my son caught a gold dust day gecko. He wants to keep it as a pet. This animal is not native to the islands and is in fact considered by some to be a pest species.
I have to admit, it is the one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen. It has a metallic set of scales on its shoulders and tree bright red streaks on it’s back haunch.
I was torn, knowing it is not a native species I didn’t tell him to just let it go. Instead I set about creating a habitat for it. “read” Aquarium with sand bottom, fake plants, and a little watering hole.
Easy enough, but then I started thinking, I am an avid aquarist, I keep saltwater tanks. I run state of the art equipment and maintain a water quality in my tanks that is often superior to the state of the ocean (after a heavy rain or sewage spill) Yet looking back, I have killed many a fish. Though my intentions were good I have Introduced fish to tanks where they were promptly set on by their tank mates and killed, to slowly killing them by ignoring (unintentionally) their nutritional requirements. Not to mention the fact where I have actually wiped out a whole tank full of fish by introducing a fish not properly quarentined.
My question is are these things in danger just because of their beauty? I know several birds made the list because of the illicit pet trade. My sons lizard is a pest species in no danger of extinction because it doesn’t belong here, we try to buy captive bred aquarim fish, but salt water? hah!
My trips to the reef aquarium store show no shortage of exportable fish. though I do note there is less of the imported species.
Some are. The reptile, bird, and fish trade have all been intense at times and occasionally disruptive. Said disruptions usually pale next to the impact of habitat destruction, but if you have an already precarious species additional collecting for the pet trade can potentially have a negative effect.
The best way around this ( I am not anti-pet ) is to deal only with captive-propagated animals, of which there are many in a wide selection. And of course in your situation removing a Gold Dust Day Gecko ( easy to keep and rather personable lizards for little guys ) from Hawai’i is pretty environmentally neutral. Both because they are non-native and also because they aren’t even remotely scarce in Hawai’i ( they were everywhere when I was last on the Big Island ).
I do believe thare are a number of species in danger because of the pet trade. Indigo snakes sort of come to mind.
I’ve also heard they use some pretty objectionable methods for capturing monkeys. Killing mothers, that sort of thing.
On the geckos, I’d want to check with your local authorities to make sure the little guy’s legal to keep. It might be considered vermin and therefor illegal or there might be a ban on keeping any wildlife. On the whole, I try to stick to captive-bred or catch and release if it’s not something territorial. For example, I might keep a frog or garter snake for a brief period and then “trade it in”.
Zoo girl I’ll tell you right now i’td illegal to keep, breed or especially introduce a foreign species in Hawaii. This is a law I will lose no sleep over by breaking.
These lizards are pretty prevelant here, who’s to say one didn’t just walk in my house and take residence in my tank?