Conference Summary

The Exotic Reptile & Amphibian Conference was held in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, October 2001, with the purpose of gathering views from a wide cross section of stakeholders from such fields as herpetology, museum professionals, veterinary services, wildlife agencies, business, zoos and reptile parks to examine the subject of exotic reptiles and amphibians with respect to their impact and value to Australia, Australians and our fauna.

A wide variety of views were collected from presentations and workshops and consensus was reached on how to move forward with this subject. The forum provided a unique opportunity for gathering intelligence and frank discussion, which might not have been achieved in a government run conference.

The conference was stimulated by unconfirmed reports of the widespread holding of exotic species by private keepers. Hard evidence for this was sought at and after the meeting, but the clandestine nature of such keeping has meant that its extent remains undocumented (with the exception of the large list of those species already seized by the authorities). However, even if the true state of illicit exotics in Australia is at the low end of the estimates being discussed, it is clear that any illegal importation, keeping or breeding of exotic reptiles and amphibians in Australia should concern everyone. With the abundant availability of exotic reptiles, at easily affordable prices on the internet, and the ease with which reptiles can be smuggled in mail or baggage, the chance of a flood of exotic reptiles and amphibians into Australia is real. Conference attendees have identified the problem and agreed on a series of steps to help address it.

All persons at the meeting, whatever their position on the desirability of allowing exotics into Australia, agreed that unsupervised, unmonitored flow of such species is highly undesirable. Presentations at the conference clearly enunciated the sorts of hazards that must be minimised, including the threat of new diseases, the ecological damage that feral species can do, and the hazards to human health of exotic venomous snakes, for which no supplies of antivenom exist in Australia.

However there are strong feelings of mutual mistrust between elements of the keeping fraternity and some of those employed in enforcing current wildlife regulations. The perceptions are based on serious illegal behaviour (including smuggling) by a minority of keepers, and some real instances of overzealousness or insensitivity by enforcement officers. In such an atmosphere, rare negative events massively outweigh routine good practice in driving opinion towards polarisation. One unfortunate result is that some keepers turn their backs on the regulatory system, driving some aspects of keeping underground. It follows from this is that all measures in place should be such as to encourage compliance with regulations that are intended to protect Australian environments, industries and people from the threats posed by the entry of exotic animals. The inadequacy and inconsistency of the existing regulations, federally and at state level, was a major area of discussion for the attendees.

One of the major issues seen by keepers as a potential spur for the importation of exotics is that in some states native species either cannot be kept, or the range of species that can be legally kept is very limited. Given the resulting perception that it is as illegal in some states to possess most native species as it is an exotic, the driving underground of keepers will help any trade in exotics to persist. Re-packing native reptile legislation to facilitate keeping and breeding of local species would encourage the majority of keepers to stay in the system and facilitate monitoring of the species kept. State authorities typically use conservation arguments to justify restricting access to native species; the great majority of Australia reptile and amphibian species are not endangered, and habitat destruction, and the impact of feral animals, not collection of individual animals, is the major threatening process confronting wildlife. Experience in South Australia, where laws regarding keeping and trading in native reptiles are comparatively liberal, shows that the great majority of keepers do abide by laws that are perceived as sensible.

There are circumstances for legal importation of exotic reptiles and amphibians for purposes such as the educational role of zoos, businesses, and research. These activities are in the interest of the economy, education, Australia’s participation in global conservation programmes and science. Replication of controls across various government agencies adds pointless burdens to those who wish to operate legally. The risk assessments that currently are the basis for permitting/denying entry must be seriously examined for relevance for most of these instances. When small numbers of exotics are to be held in high security and quarantine isolation, there is no reasonable prospect of individuals escaping, even less of feral populations establishing. Supervision to ensure such secure holding arrangements would cater for all concerns. The existing list of exotic species that are permitted is almost entirely an arbitrary one, reflecting the random mix of taxa present in Australia at the time the current regulations came into force.

If nothing is done to change the current situation, the chances are that the existing regulations will continue to give the illusion of supervision and control while ensuring that a flow of exotic fauna of unknown scope will continue and possibly grow. At the same time, legitimate access to such species will continue to be weighed down with duplicated regulation. Clearly, such a situation will not alleviate the probability, sooner or later, of an environmental catastrophe caused by a feral exotic, of human deaths from exotic snakebite or the introduction of a foreign disease.

Peter Mirtschin

Mark Hutchinson