there's a huge difference between the cites status of the bala shark and the asian arowana.
the asian aro is listed under CITES I (same as gorillas, tigers, asiatic lions...).
the bala shark is listed(if even) under CITES III or II.
some countries handle animals(and plants) listed under CITES different. the legal status in the USA is paticular confusing(and sort of redicules). most countries require you to register your animals listed under CITES II(for exaple ball pythons, red tail boas...) with the proper paperwork. in the USA you can just walk into a petstore and buy CITES II animals without any trouble or paperwork.
CITES I is a little more complicated...most countries allow the trade of registered and microchiped animals IF THEY'RE BRED FOR TWO GENERATIONS IN CAPTIVITY BY A LICENSED BREEDER. so the F2 and up generations of CITES I animals are treated as CITES II. in the USA there's no such downgrading for captive bred CITES I animals.
that means...for the US goverment it's no different if you have a wild cought sibirian tiger in your backyard or an asian arowana (which is bred by the 1000s in the far east) swimming in your tank.
the asian aro is listed under CITES I (same as gorillas, tigers, asiatic lions...).
the bala shark is listed(if even) under CITES III or II.
some countries handle animals(and plants) listed under CITES different. the legal status in the USA is paticular confusing(and sort of redicules). most countries require you to register your animals listed under CITES II(for exaple ball pythons, red tail boas...) with the proper paperwork. in the USA you can just walk into a petstore and buy CITES II animals without any trouble or paperwork.
CITES I is a little more complicated...most countries allow the trade of registered and microchiped animals IF THEY'RE BRED FOR TWO GENERATIONS IN CAPTIVITY BY A LICENSED BREEDER. so the F2 and up generations of CITES I animals are treated as CITES II. in the USA there's no such downgrading for captive bred CITES I animals.
that means...for the US goverment it's no different if you have a wild cought sibirian tiger in your backyard or an asian arowana (which is bred by the 1000s in the far east) swimming in your tank.
