Why exotic reptiles should be banned

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Irrespective on how much damage a particular species has actually caused or has the potential to cause, exotic reptiles and amphibians have no place in Australia. There's no telling what kind of impact a species can have on Australia's ecosystems until it has escaped and established itself. It's not just the animal, but the diseases it may be carrying. I'm thinking of chytrid fungus. Prevention is better than cure. I'm saying this as a person who loves and admires exotics. In a perfect world where exotics were clear of diseases and there was no way of them escaping into the wild, then I don't see the problem. I would probably keep a few exotics in a heartbeat. But can we trust people to contain their animals, or worse, trust them not to release their animals into the wild when they no longer wanted to keep them? I've been to islands, some of a decent size such as Rottnest, some just a tiny spit of land, where there were no exotics of any kind. I can't describe it, but it's something remarkable being able to visit a pristine ecosystem that has not been decimated by introduced vermin. Do we really want to risk what still remains?
 
Any introduced animal (or plant) can have an impact on the native ecosystem. As "another competitor for food", any introduced reptile will impact the ecosystem, just by reducing prey numbers. The same sort of thing can happen in an extreme drought or bushfire, but prey numbers will increase again afterwards, unlike in the case of exotic speices.
I believe tortoises should be allowed in Australia, they would not out-compete anything.
 
I believe tortoises should be allowed in Australia, they would not out-compete anything.
With appropriate quarantine tortoises could be certified as disease free. So why not?

As far as having no direct competitors, I disagree. Any herbivore or omnivore, whether vertebrate or invertebrate, is a potential competitor. There is also the possibility for selective grazing by tortoises, which may alter the species composition of a given habitat (= reduced biodiversity).

I will say that of all the reptile groups, tortoises are probably the easiest to keep contained. The problem here is not the tortoises, but humans and theft. So unfortunately they would have to be kept in highly secured enclosures.

So while I understand where you are coming from and truly sympathise, it just ain’t gunna happen!
 
With appropriate quarantine tortoises could be certified as disease free. So why not?

As far as having no direct competitors, I disagree. Any herbivore or omnivore, whether vertebrate or invertebrate, is a potential competitor. There is also the possibility for selective grazing by tortoises, which may alter the species composition of a given habitat (= reduced biodiversity).

I will say that of all the reptile groups, tortoises are probably the easiest to keep contained. The problem here is not the tortoises, but humans and theft. So unfortunately they would have to be kept in highly secured enclosures.

So while I understand where you are coming from and truly sympathise, it just ain’t gunna happen!
I firmly believe there is an available niche for tortoises in Australia, they would not out-compete/threaten anything on this continent, I agree they would be the best candidate for integration and I also agree that it will never happen but if it did, we would never ever be overrun by a rogue feral tortoise population, nor would any species face extinction because of them. It would be awesome to keep them in captivity here but hey, we can't have everything. It's a shame Australia has no native tortoises. My wife is from South Africa and grew up with Leopard Tortoises living and breeding in her back yard every year. Beautiful creatures.
 
Exotic pets were fairly common in Perth in the 1950's, I used to walk past a house on my way to the tram stop where they had a pair of tortoises that looked like scaled down Galapagos, the lady let us feed them carrots. South Perth was infested with Squirrels that were loose in the zoo and a few people had monkeys. Often wonder what became of them.
 
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Exotic pets were fairly common in Perth in the 1950's, I used to walk past a house on my way to the tram stop where they had a pair of tortoises that looked like scaled down galapagos, the lady let us feed them carrots. South Perth was infested with Squirrels that were loose in the zoo and a few people had monkeys. Often wonder what became of them.
You and your generation have lived, like my mum always said, in the best era this country ever saw. I still remember the day the news broke about a giant Alligator Snapping turtle being found in a drain below the city streets in Sydney, thought to have been possibly from a batch stolen in 1979... Who knows what's still out there!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/nov/29/patrickbarkham

Then in 2014 a local freshwater turtle expert, Darren Fielder, here in Toowoomba discovered a Chinese Stripe-necked turtle where I go trapping feeders for my own turtles, just down the road from my place...
http://www.redleafenviro.com.au/new...found-in-the-toowoomba-waterbird-habitat.aspx
 
I firmly believe there is an available niche for tortoises in Australia, they would not out-compete/threaten anything on this continent, I agree they would be the best candidate for integration and I also agree that it will never happen but if it did, we would never ever be overrun by a rogue feral tortoise population, nor would any species face extinction because of them.

Sorry Kev but I have to disagree. Here's a few links relating to REST and I'll draw your attention to the first link (I attached this in the Feral Pet Invasion Across NSW you posted the other day. don't know if you familiarized yourself with it when I did but if you didn't it's worth a gander).

https://invasives.org.au/wp-content...ecurity-failures-red-eared-slider-turtles.pdf

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/ind...sts/invasive-animals/restricted/slider-turtle

https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/amphibians-and-reptiles/red-eared-slider-animal-pest-alert?page=0,2

https://www.pestsmart.org.au/red-eared-slider-turtles-in-australia-and-new-zealand/

Cheers,

GW.
 
Sorry Kev but I have to disagree. Here's a few links relating to REST and I'll draw your attention to the first link (I attached this in the Feral Pet Invasion Across NSW you posted the other day. don't know if you familiarized yourself with it when I did but if you didn't it's worth a gander).

https://invasives.org.au/wp-content...ecurity-failures-red-eared-slider-turtles.pdf

https://www.business.qld.gov.au/ind...sts/invasive-animals/restricted/slider-turtle

https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/amphibians-and-reptiles/red-eared-slider-animal-pest-alert?page=0,2

https://www.pestsmart.org.au/red-eared-slider-turtles-in-australia-and-new-zealand/

Cheers,

GW.
Apples and oranges... Terrestrial tortoises are not turtles mate. We have 37 known species of turtle in direct competition with RES... Show me what tortoises would compete with? The niche is empty.
 
Fair enough...wasn't thinking should have realised you were talking about tortoises and not turtles. However, they may not pose competition but the threat of introducing disease should be a consideration.
 
Fair enough...wasn't thinking should have realised you were talking about tortoises and not turtles. However, they may not pose competition but the threat of introducing disease should be a consideration.
Of course mate, all manner of quarantining should be observed and if done, anything could be successfully introduced but the laws are tightening not getting more flexible... When you consider for example, Western Australia won't even allow anything that's not endemic to their state into their state, or, Tasmania won't allow turtles, period... for fear of threatening their trout industry... (LOL) but seriously... there's ZERO chance of imported reptiles ever being legalised here for the every day average enthusiast. I guess this makes going to the zoo regularly a necessity. LOL
 
Our colonial ancestors probably thought the same about the rabbits and foxes, empty niches. Pity they didn't get advice from our indigenous ancestors first.

Exotic pets were fairly common in Perth in the 1950's, I used to walk past a house on my way to the tram stop where they had a pair of tortoises that looked like scaled down Galapagos, the lady let us feed them carrots. South Perth was infested with Squirrels that were loose in the zoo and a few people had monkeys. Often wonder what became of them.

Haven't you seen Planet of the Apes, Yellowtail? Those monkeys are probably living further up the Swan River. ;):D
 
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Haven't you seen Planet of the Apes, Yellowtail? Those monkeys are probably living further up the Swan River. ;):D
Hmm, there are some strange people up in the hills. Interested to know if they ever got rid of the Squirrels, they were in every tree in South Perth around the Zoo.
 
Our colonial ancestors probably thought the same about the rabbits and foxes, empty niches. Pity they didn't get advice from our indigenous ancestors first.
I believe they were actually brought here for sporting purposes. ;)
 
That was the empty niche.
Ok... and terrestrial tortoises would compete directly with?? Lol don't worry, the brightest minds in this country's turtle and tortoise field have already deduced that tortoises would be in a niche of their own here... but those who make the laws will never bend. It's just another day at the office.
 
Ok... and terrestrial tortoises would compete directly with?? Lol don't worry, the brightest minds in this country's turtle and tortoise field have already deduced that tortoises would be in a niche of their own here... but those who make the laws will never bend. It's just another day at the office.
Just like the brightest minds at the time decided that importing cane toads was a good idea.
 
Just like the brightest minds at the time decided that importing cane toads was a good idea.
Sigh, so now your comparing something that has the ability to lay 2 million eggs twice per year with no natural predators to something that breeds successfullly 3 times in 20 years with a less than 1% survival rate... Hmm you need to think a teeny bit harder... tortoises will not overrun Australia my friend... No matter how you try to envision it happening. They can't even overpopulate their own native countries thanks to their low fecundity and high mortality.
 
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Sigh, so now your comparing something that has the ability to lay 2 million eggs twice per year with no natural predators to something that breeds 3 times in 20 years with a less than 1% survival rate... Hmm you need to think a teeny bit harder... tortoises will not overrun Australia my friend... No matter how you try to envision it happening. They can't even overpopulate their own native countries thanks to their low fecundity and high mortality.
Which tortoises only breed three times in thirty years? A quick look just now brought up three that can reproduce yearly. One of these laying up to 20 eggs each month for 7 months of the year.

Just to clarify also, cane toad females can lay between 8000-35000 eggs a time and will usually breed twice a year.
 
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