Keeping Native Animals as Pets to Prevent Extinction

[wolfmonat]

You can include me in that too. At one stage the eastern quoll was located in how area but now they are extremely rear. I would love to get into breeding of wildlife that is endangered, threathened in our area for release and for pets.

 

[moussaka]

While I'm not entirely sure where I stand on this yet, and might potentially be in favour of it, there are a couple of problems that I can see.

Firstly, keeping natives as pets won't necessarily in itself result in better conservation of those in the wild. For instance, the Gouldian finch is very popular and common in captivity, but is still endangered in the wild, with little evidence that the captive stock have had any impact on lessening the problems experienced by those in the wild (though a potential benefit is the large captive stock can be used much more easily for research without having to remove animals from the wild). I can also imagine that being able to keep natives which are currently entirely off-limits could cause problems with poaching - we know how big a problem it is already with our reptiles!

Also, addressing the point brought up in the article linked to earlier of 'genetic diversity is always a good thing': simply put, it's not. Don't get me wrong, a lot of the time it is, but in lots of organisms local populations may be adapted for local conditions, with a particular set of genes which confer a very high level of fitness in that particular environment. Introducing new genes (e.g. from escaped native pets) can then introduce genes which are less advantageous, which can be a serious problem for an animal which already has a small population size.

Not saying that I think keeping native animals as pets is necessarily a bad thing, but there are definitely potential problems which should be addressed.

Oh, also this made me laugh:

A media piece run by the ABC also made some strong arguments against native animals being kept as pets. The piece quoted Dr Karen Viggers and Dr David Lindenmayer, who were deemed to be experts because, like your average bushwalker, they had "experience in wildlife biology and conservation. (3)"

Oh..oh yes, of course, the average bushwalker has the same knowledge of and experience with biology and conservation as David freaking Lindenmayer, who is only Australia's foremost conservation biologist.

EDIT: lol only just noticed how old this thread is!

 

[SteveNT]

Goodness! People might put native animals into the Australian wild when they're sick of them! That would be so much worse than putting exotic animals into the Australian wild!

Goodness! People might end up handing them in to pounds! It's a good thing that never happens with traditional pets like cats and dogs!

What if released quolls ate native animals! SHOCK! HORROR! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!

 

[CaptainRatbag]

oops I just saw the dat of the post too :lol:

I still think it would be an idea worth looking into..... as long as people who obtain the animals are licenced and educated on thier requirements etc

 

[butters]

If it was legal I would have quolls tomorrow, or at least in a few months when they are out of the pouch. I wouldn't be having them as a house pet though. Custom built connecting enclosures. At least not once full grown.
juveniles can be cute and friendly, adult males......not so much, I have had a number of "friendly" bites on the ankle before whilst cleaning at a friends place and it doesn't tickle. You just have to see them yawn to realise if they wanted to they could really bring the pain. They almost have flip top heads they can open their jaws so wide! I am talking mostly about spot tail quolls.

Never been bitten by an eastern or northern ime they act tough but dont follow through but I am sure there are people who work with these on a more regular basis that have been.

Would have sugar gliders as well and if handled correctly from a young age they really can become almost like house pets. Many that I have worked with actually seem to enjoy human contact to a degree in that they actively seek it out at times.

Not going to happen. Heaven forbid for people to keep native mammals!!


Pure stupidity. Quolls for example were once found in most of the inhabited areas of the east coast. What damage are they likely to do if some did escape? Far less than a cat or dog for one thing. They also are no longer found there for a reason which is still there. Us.

 

[-Peter]

Pretty sad state of affairs when pet trade becomes the answer to saving a species. Last resort. Oh well,roll up the sleeves and get on with it I say.

 

[SteveNT]

It was no pet but I had a female northern quoll who used to come in through the circular hole in the flywire that the black-footed tree rat had cut (his third and final one- I gave up trying to stop him). A V. panoptes used it too. One day the quoll (with clinger young) and the goanna met up in the hallway and the goanna snatched a baby and bolted. She got him halfway through the hole and shredded his rump, but he got away.

All this while I watched from the couch. At the end of the day I try to put myself where "they" are rather than bring "them" to me.

 

[Snowman]

Hey who dug up this old thread?
save species or not I'd rather see feral natives then cats etc. We have kookaburra's in Perth that don't belong here. It's not as offensive as seeing a cat though.

 

[Grogshla]

I would keep them for sure. I think they are great little animals and deserve protection

 

[Darlyn]

The report is from 2010 because that's how old this thread is.
I saw something on TV 2 weeks ago where they had a native marsupial rat and they where
asking people to adopt them as pets to ensure they aren't eradicated by feral cats and foxes.
It was really cute too.

Pretty sure I stated earlier how old this thread is, just goes to show how much people read before they comment.
Or do they just not read my posts because I am so amazingly uninteresting?

 

[SteveNT]

The issue is valid today, the start point is irrelevant.

 

[Snowman]

not valid for WA. It illegal to own native mammals here.

 

[james.5]

I think that Australia has awesome animals and I would prefer to see natives as pets than cats, dogs and exotic species; however you can't compare cats to quolls as they are completely different animals.

Quolls would be more elusive animals that wouldn't adapt well to being in houses, like cats; so if they could be kept they would have to be in an outdoor enclosure.

 

[crocodile_dan]

I think butters touched on this issue in his post on page 1 but:

It is interesting to note those states which permit the private keeping of certain species (Quolls, koalas, wombats, raptors, macropods etc), that despite their relative simplistic husbandry requirements (comparatively) the keeping of such species is limited to a minute proportion of keepers even compared with our growing but still small reptile hobby. Thankfully permits for most of the more "iconic" species are specialist only, and therefore require a screening process.

It raises the question that if such legislation were to come in permitting the private keeping of certain native species (in states which currently prohibit such) would it be successful/popular? Given that those currently able to do such are not doing so in significant numbers?

 

[butters]

As stated how old the thread happens to be is irrelevant. The issue hasn't changed at all.

Its not that we didn't read your post it's more that we chose to ignore it as its still a relevant thread.


I would much rather have them come to me too but these critters are no longer in the wild where I live. Well sugar gliders are still around and I much rather see them in the trees out front of my house.

If you are going to have a cute furry animal I would rather it be a native than a feral like a rat, ferret, cat etc

No they aren't in the same category as cats or dogs as far as companion pets but if you were to selectively breed them over generations it may be possible to get them there. They have a ridiculously short generation turnaround so it shouldn't take long for domesticated traits to start appearing such as changes in temperament etc.

Once kept as pets they will never be used to restock natural populations. Not specifically anyway. They will be pets not sources for restocking. Escapees are still bound to happen but the threat should be less than current " traditional" pets.

I honestly doubt it would become hugely popular.

As you said Dan there are states that have allowed their keeping for a fair period of time and rather than become common many species have disappeared from private collections. Many of these same species have become rare or non existent in zoos and parks as well as they are not " iconic" enough to bring people in.

Zoos regularly stop breeding programs to concentrate on other species and once they do numbers get so low that the species is lost to the system. You need a fair number of facilities breeding them to keep genetic diversity up and many just aren't interested. Also if you do breed a few you have to find somewhere to dispose of surplus. If others zoos don't want them what do you do with them? at present they can't ( for various reasons- ARAZPA being one) be released to the public.

You stop the breeding program is what you do. Next thing you know they are gone.