Is wildlife smuggling ok?

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Is wildlife smuggling ok?

  • Smuggling is OK

    Votes: 3 9.1%

  • Smuggling is NOT ok

    Votes: 27 81.8%

  • smuggled animals taste like bacon

    Votes: 3 9.1%
  • Total voters
    33
its moral over legal. in Kentucky piranha are illegal but legal in Indiana. smuggling them across the border is ok in my opinion if you are going to be responsible (not turn loose in the wild). smuggling asian arows is not ok to few in the wild.

it comes down to specific species and why it is illegal. although the law is the law. if you smuggle don't complain when you are caught.
 
so Nate, are you saying that if it is something that you want then you don't care about where it comes from or how?
 
With those circumstances then I would have to say I am against it. In that scenario it is clearly for monetary gain, at all levels. As for as rationalizing it, each individual will come up with their own justification of circumventing the laws and moral issues.
As for as your last question, people who knowingly patronize someone who commits these crimes doesn't care either. They just care that they can acquire the species that they so desire. No matter how it was obtained. Or it is a Don't Ask, Don't Tell mentality.
 
In those circumstances id say no. if we where talking, say blue anole where its sole chance at survival is if someone can smuggle out enough of them to breed captivly then id be ok with it. As long as this was for truly preservation.

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DavidW said:
one that is increasingly relevant to our hobby, one designed to provoke a conversation and increase awareness
Click to expand...



Wildlife laws are there for a reason, and while some of them may be 100% pure BS, breaking the law is a step back for those involved in the hobby. Lobbying to change unjust wildlife laws is, however, a step foreward.
 
I'm definitely against smuggling. Sarracenia jonesii, or the mountain sweet pitcher plant, was nearly wiped out by poachers in North and South Carolina. The red pigment free mutation was wiped out from the wild because of poachers. This plant only occurs in 3 counties in 2 states, only in the US. It's now critically endangered, mostly because of poachers, and why I'm against smugling. Luckily, I have a legally collected division of the SC form that was taken from a well established plant with multiple rhizomes.

Because of the status of this plant it's illegal to sell across state lines. However, it is legal to give it away to someone for further propagation. Luckily, plants are much easier to breed/make more of than animals.

The only times I've collected wild plants was A) when a site was sprayed with herbicide and 60% of the plants died. That number has moved up to 80% since the onset of winter. This basically means I'm growing an extirpated population, along with the lucky few that I've given seedling to. And B) when we discovered new populations in counties that they've never been found in before to make herbarium specimens and to cultivate to see if there were any differences. This is for a conservation group and we have permits to do this. I don't recommend amateurs trying this, as it can lead to jail time if you collect the wrong thing.

We've been wanting to breed black banded sunfish, which are critically endangered in my state, but it's illegal to possess them, regardless of where they come from. We may be issued permits in a few years if some legal decisions are made.
 
see there are interesting points coming up now... but before we go too far on this subject, pimas black rays zebs and indeed brazils export laws best get left outa this, they really could go along way to deal with high pressure water mining gold and drug labs destroying the eco-system in the basin before restricting export of fish they know national statistics are vastly unrepresentative of natural stock levels of and openly admit this...
 
If you say you are fine with certain fish being smuggled from place to place, why limit it to fish only? If you smuggle out other animals, reptiles, birds, small mammals or even larger ones, where do you draw the line? What about animal parts, like tiger skin?

You can justify anything to yourself if given enough time. In short though, the answer is no, and by smuggling animals you are encouraging dangerous practices which cost more animals their lives, as well as people.
 
I would have to say no... because if every one decided to take fish from the wild, then whats left for future generations...

But as some have stated, if its legal in one state, and illegal in the state right next door, then i think MAYBE its okay given its not endangered and the person isn't releasing the fish into the wild...
 
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