Luristan Newt receives full CITES protection - Caudata.org

[Frog News]

Doha, Qatar: Luristan Newt receives full CITES protection
by John Clare - Caudata.org, London, UK - Sunday, March 21st, 2010

Today the delegates attending the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES) unanimously passed the Iranian government's proposal to extend the convention's highest protection to the critically endangered Luristan Newt, Neurergus kaiseri.


Luristan Newt, Neurergus kaiseri, breeding adult at Sedgwick County Zoo, USA

The species is now listed in Appendix I of the convention, which effectively outlaws all international trade in the species, and may impact trade within some countries too.

According to some estimates, the species may number as little as 500 in the wild. Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas, USA, has had enormous success in captive breeding this beautiful newt and is surely a lesson to other institutions around the world. With the right expertise and surprisingly little required resources, the zoo regularly produces more vigorous young newts than they can keep in-house.

Iran and its supporters cited the illegal collection of these newts for the international pet trade as the main cause of the newt's critically endangered status. Sale of wild caught animals through the Internet has exacerbated the situation, and the greater ramifications of the new "online" market for exotic animals has been the subject of much campaigning and discussion in Doha.

Pet owners and newt hobbyists have tried to assert that much of the online trade in wild caught Luristan newts has declined and is more and more subject to replacement with captive bred animals, which in turn has caused prices to drop from several hundred US dollars two or three years ago, to as little as USD $70 today. However, the listing of the newt as CITES Appendix I may effectively ban the sale of captive bred animals in the USA, because of that country's Lacey Act. Strict interpretation of the Lacey Act would mean all Luristan Newts in the USA could be ruled illegal. The ruling on enforcement has yet to be published by United States Fish and Wildlife but it seems likely that, at the very least, trade within the US across state lines must cease.


Luristan Newt juveniles, Neurergus kaiseri, captive bred at Sedgwick County Zoo, USA

So while the listing obviously helps to reduce wild collection, it also negates any captive breeding efforts outside of officially sanctioned institutions like zoos and aquariums. Zoos must pick and choose the animals that they maintain, and newts rarely, if ever, make it into institutional collections due to their generally poor visibility as display animals and their specialist maintenance requirements. There is also very little institutional expertise when it comes to newts and salamanders - virtually no zoos have ever bred a species of tailed-amphibian.

Today's decision by the delegates meeting in Doha is a positive step for remaining Luristan newts in the wild, but the large shortfall in the required expertise and low availability of newt-friendly grants and funding may hamper any serious captive breeding and reintroduction efforts.

CITES Press release: Press release

Original Article on Caudata.org

[StephenLS]

I contemplated getting some of these a couple of months ago!

The supplier has now removed them from their website!

Always when a population falls so low it needs protecting

[John]

Just to remind everyone, Iran referenced Caudata.org in their proposal to CITES that resulted in the listing of the species. You can read the information they referenced here: Caudata Culture Species Entry - Neurergus kaiseri

From the point of view of those keeping this newt in captivity, there is a detailed discussion here: Neurergus kaiseri CITES Appendix I soon? - Caudata.org Newt and Salamander Forum