Group lobbying for possible Amphibian pet trade ban in US

[tgampper]

I know they will be coming after me - after all I keep a few of those fungus spreading frogs that will eventually destroy the world.

Seriously, the problem with groups like Defenders of Wildlife, they don't see the benefit of captive breeding programs. I would like to see zoos and other serious amphibian hobbyists get together and work on saving these animals.

[SludgeMunkey]

I know they will be coming after me - after all I keep a few of those fungus spreading frogs that will eventually destroy the world.

Seriously, the problem with groups like Defenders of Wildlife, they don't see the benefit of captive breeding programs. I would like to see zoos and other serious amphibian hobbyists get together and work on saving these animals.

Terry, i could not agree more. If I could figure out a way to convince the herpetologists and zoos once and for all that there are a good many "amatures" around doing real work with these animals that is just as valid as the work they are doing, I would. I feel this gap will ultimately doom the species the "big" budgets ignore.

The sheer pettiness of the scientific community and the zealots' lobby powers will ultimately be the downfall of us all.

As long as this animosity continues, the prospect of the science and the hobby becoming extinct due to blanket laws is a real as Bd extinctions.

In short, we all lose to ignorance and ego.

[JeffX]

From what I understand this isn't an outright ban, but a move to test all imported amphibians. Which should have been done years ago when this first crept up. We probably could have saved several species if something was done earlier.

[John]

From what I understand this isn't an outright ban, but a move to test all imported amphibians. Which should have been done years ago when this first crept up. We probably could have saved several species if something was done earlier.

And that is why:

I think the press release makes a good point - when have you known legislators to care enough to fairly regulate for a topic like this of marginal voting consequence? Easier to ban outright.

[JeffX]

Well hopefully an outright ban won't happen. We can always start writing to let our representatives know the facts.

[Iratus ranunculus]

I will be blunt. There needs to be some sort of regulation in place to slow the spread of bd. Not shipping amphibians around all over the place unless there is testing for the disease is probably a good idea. An example of how this works:

With stuff like cattle and poultry, facilities must be periodically tested to determine whether or not the animals are infected with Mad Cow, Avian Flu etc. A similar protocol could be in place before people are allowed to ship amphibian adults and larvae. Not all frogs need be inspected in this manner, simply a sample of each species under consideration. A toe clipping or skin swab would be taken of a sample of the amphibians. This sample would be mixed with Taq Polymerase, Nucleotides, a Primer that marks the start and stop markers for a genetic marker for bd, and some pH Buffers and this would be subjected to a cycle of heating and cooling to amplify the DNA and make it detectable. If when run through an electrophoresis jell something shows up, the frog is infected and the facility will need to be quarantined and the frogs treated.

Third party or even university labs can be used for this, and PCR is relatively cheap. Multiple samples can be run in each well plate to save time and money, and it provides good data on the spread of the disease within the US. Particularly with wild caught specimens collected for the pet trade and Biological Supply Markets. Locality data would also be a good idea.

See this is another example of people over reacting and NOT thinking. The problem of Chytrid is not because of people raising and keeping amphibians. The fungus is present every world in the world and has been probably for centuries.

No. It has not. Chytrid is native to Africa and has been spread to the the New World and Asia by releases of Xenopus laevis from research and medical colonies, and later by the spread of infected bullfrogs which have been introduced... pretty much everywhere.

The sheer pettiness of the scientific community and the zealots' lobby powers will ultimately be the downfall of us all.

Most of us scientists that work with reptiles and amphibians do keep them as pets. I would be careful how you approach this...

Frankly, an outright ban is too costly to enforce. A testing protocol for interstate trade and importation is what you are more likely to see, because the cost of that can be passed on to consumers and the fees for import permits can generate a small amount of revenue.

[John]

Those animals are tested because they are in our food chain. With the exception of Asian food markets around the US, the majority of amphibians in the US are not part of the human food chain and thus are a low priority for any powers-that-be.

I disagree with what you see as the probable result of the two possibilities - an outright ban is easier to legislate and fund than testing for pets that, let's face it, are not kept by many people.