Importing my carpet python to Australia

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Legislation can be changed. Bird importation from Europe and America is commonplace now, however this was not the case for a long time. As an example, the last shipment that I was involved in amounted to close to $1000 in quarantine fees per animal, and close to 100 animals were in the shipment. The largest risk you run with these types of shipments is if one animal tests positive to any disease, virus, pathogen etc the whole shipment is destroyed.

Many illegally imported animals are routinely passed on to zooilogical institutions, and this would seem to breach many of the quarantine procedures this country has.

Our laws are antiquated and can be contravened with enough money and political pressure, unfortunately reptiles are neither popular (like cats and dogs) or understood and most beaurocrats would not spend time entertaining the idea of them as being suitable for importation. Perhaps if you legalised iguana racing and you could bet on it, someone would be more interested in changing the laws :)
 
Legislation can be changed. Bird importation from Europe and America is commonplace now, however this was not the case for a long time. As an example, the last shipment that I was involved in amounted to close to $1000 in quarantine fees per animal, and close to 100 animals were in the shipment. The largest risk you run with these types of shipments is if one animal tests positive to any disease, virus, pathogen etc the whole shipment is destroyed.

Many illegally imported animals are routinely passed on to zooilogical institutions, and this would seem to breach many of the quarantine procedures this country has.

Our laws are antiquated and can be contravened with enough money and political pressure, unfortunately reptiles are neither popular (like cats and dogs) or understood and most beaurocrats would not spend time entertaining the idea of them as being suitable for importation. Perhaps if you legalised iguana racing and you could bet on it, someone would be more interested in changing the laws :)

Really? Bird importation. Commonplace now. What species and when?


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My experience ( I have legally imported and exported live animals in the past)is that if you wish to spend the time and money in developing appropriate protocols it can be done. I would guesstimate you would need at least hundreds of thousands of dollars to risk and a few spare years.
 
I love our quarantine laws and tough restrictions. It keeps this country beautiful and native relevant.

Could you imagine what the Galapagos would be like now if they didn't have THE strictest quarantine and import/export laws of anywhere in the world?
 
Pigeons, many different varieties, thousands of animals have been imported.

Cheers, that's what I thought - one species only, unfortunately. Much like tropical fish; an established import over many decades with a vocal lobby group.. lol.
 
I'm not suggesting it is possible (although for my own peace of mind I would contact NPWS personally) but the comment about strict quarrantine doesn't quite stand up. People import 'pets' all the time and the quarrantine involves them being kept for x amount of time by customs to ensure they are disease free.

I would be very curious to know from NPWS why a local species animal which can normally be legally kept can not be brought back into the country.
Have a good read through this, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/nature/hygieneProtocolSnakes.pdf
 
I am guessing you were refering to the tolerance/resistence to disease, if so thanks. That is a fair call that they can carry something which they themselves are resistent to it does open a bit of a can of worms for the legally kept exotics although I am sure the zoos keep them away from their native stock.
 
I am guessing you were refering to the tolerance/resistence to disease, if so thanks. That is a fair call that they can carry something which they themselves are resistent to it does open a bit of a can of worms for the legally kept exotics although I am sure the zoos keep them away from their native stock.
There were many bits that I thought were interesting and you may like to read but yes that part and the part about what an exotic disease is were a bit pertinent to your question.
 
Jamie, the last page of this has been to do just that so if you know where to familiarise ourselves with all of these reasons why not share rather than being condesending?

Your point abot PNG genetics is a good point.

I wasn't being condescending at all Gruni, just stating the bare facts. Firstly, the bureaucrats that manage the system as it is now, are not neutral in their stance (even though they perhaps should be) - they are not waiting around for reasons why things should be changed. They are part of an entrenched philosophy (which I might add I have worked in & around for the past 40 years), and as Wokka intimated, you'll need years and maybe a generational change before any review is even possible. The likelihood of that is remote - any bright spark with new and rash ideas of change will be quickly moved to an area where he/she can do little "damage" to the existing structures/protocols.

I'm not sure about the bird imports in recent days, but was closely associated with the parrot (mostly Macaw) imports in the early 90s. Imports then were (and probably still are) limited to species which were already in the country legally - I heard on this morning's news that a consignment of chickens from overseas, still in quarantine, will have to be destroyed because some of the are positive for Salmonella. Pigeons would be in the same boat, but are a species already deeply established in Oz. The processes involved in bringing in species which are not already LEGALLY in Australia (that's an important proviso), even for zoos and scientific institutions, is complicated and very time consuming, and follows complex arguments about the benefits to the country if it is allowed. In the case of pet reptiles - there is almost no benefit other than appeasing the squawks of keepers who want more than they already have, and there could indeed be some significant environmental risks, of which Australia already has a large number of examples. This extends way beyond vertebrate pests, and includes a range of insects and a large number of seemingly innocent garden plants which are taking over various parts of the country.

If importation of pet reptile species were allowed, it would NOT eliminate smuggling into the country, it would probably increase it, at least for a time, and it would be far more difficult to differentiate what was legally acquired and what was not. As things stand at the moment, ANY private individual with an exotic reptile (barring a few with special circumstances such as those licenced during the NSW amnesty) is holding it illegally, and the case for confiscation and possible prosecution is clear and easy to make. No jurisdiction in the country, Federal or State, will want to change that for the sake of a few reptile keepers.

Having said all that, I know that change is possible, having been fundamentally involved in the WA change to legal keeping of reptiles & frogs, from the late 1980s till it became law in 2003 - yes... it took that long...)! However, it was only possible because we gained POLITICAL support from both the Libs and the ALP, which remained even after a change of Government. The significant factor there was that WA was the outlier of all states & territories - the only one where it was still not possible to have reptile pets, so there was a good POLITICAL argument for bringing WA into line with the rest of the country, and in the end, reluctant bureaucrats were forced to capitulate to their political masters.

This is EXTREMELY unlikely to happen with exotic reptiles across the country... indeed, so unlikely as to not even be worth the effort of trying. There are too many cons...

I know this is off-topic re the OPs query...

Jamie
 
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Pros and Cons.... hmmm?

Pro: I get a purtty snake

Con: Re-wrting Federal wildlife laws - that in itself is a nightmare, not even touched on environmental impacts yet.

Is that about the sum of it?
 
Yep :)!

I'd be pretty sure that the pigeon imports would all have been domestic pigeons and the various mutations of them, so all the same single species.

J
 
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You are correct Jamie, however looking at it subjectively, there is no real con to allowing the continued import of said animals, in fact as a result of these practices there has been at least one major outbreak of disease killing a large number of birds, wild and domestic. My point being that laws change, it can be done, even when there are no pros. Just money and political agenda. I am heavily involved in the domestic pigeon fraternity and there is no logical reason why these animals are allowed into our country knowing full well they pose a great threat to both industry, people, and wildlife. Political manouvering dictates the outcome, actual risks are irrelevant to the people behind the desks.

Wing_Nut
 
I think that allowing the importation of a limited number of bird species was an attempt to reduce the incidence of smuggling, particularly of the high-priced species such as Macaws and some other parrots, & high-end pigeons etc, but it was pretty much ineffective - smuggling of species such as B&G, Scarlet & Greenwing Macaws may have been reduced but the smugglers then turned their attention to species not found here at the time, because new species are highly desirable and therefore bring big money. There are many more species of Conures and others here now than there were in the early 90s.

The same thing would happen with reptiles - as soon as a species or morph is readily available and no longer "special" (and its value as a commodity reduces), many keepers will lose interest and seek something else which takes their fancy. Allowing a limited number of species would be pointless really - firstly, because of transport costs and legit expenses such as quarantine (prolonged and expensive for private folks), those animals would be much more expensive than black-market animals. Secondly, demand would increase for the species NOT allowed into the country - it's human nature to want something unique (for some anyway :().

Jamie
 
Looks like the OP has accepted that the snake cant be brought across by the 6th post on the first page.
 
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