Is wildlife smuggling ok?

[DavidW]

WE read often of someone caught at an airport with a suitcase full of some kind of wildlife of some sort.
Often these things seem kind of funny, the 'smugglers' methods being so obviously crazy.
Other forms of wildlife smuggling are perhaps more insidious, Animals shipped under another species name and similar methods, Perhaps people in the country of origin bribed to look the other way.
Over the years even a few members of this forum have been arrested and charged with smuggling, usually with profit ( selling in the pet trade) as the motive.
As an extreme example there are more tigers in captivity than there are in the wild, and many of them were obtained illegally and are kept without licence. Rhino horn and ivory are other examples.

As a lesser example , some species, such as FW stingrays, are illegal in certain states, but still there are people willing to ship them there to buyers who either don;t know or don't care. Snakeheads are another species that are controlled in the US
There is no supply without demand.
Is it unequivocal?

The title asks the question:
Is smuggling wildlife ok?
Are there any circumstances where wildlife can be rationalized or is it simple greed on the part of the smugglers??
If you vote that it is OK then please explain how you arrive at that conclusion.

 

[Pharaoh]

No it's not.

 

[ermgravy]

official standpoint of mfk and all members on this subject is and should remain no.... The Law is the Law and in theory written for good reason even if its not.... Now if u have illegal fish, change ur location dont publicise it and who is anyone to know anything other than you have gorgeous fish, n lets forget about this topic coming up AGIAN....

 

[twilight zone]

It is a moral and legal question. Some may see it as victimless crime but under the written rules it is a crime. To some it is senseless and to others it criminal. It is like driving over the speed limit. Driving over the speed limit by one mile an hour and getting a ticket is not likely but possible. But getting into an accident by going one mile an hour maybe a contributing factor to the accident. Hence, the supposed reason of the law. Where does the line stops?

 

[pwmin]

That's a question you have to answer for yourself. A lot of laws are unethical, especially in a "free" society, but breaking them still has legal consequences even if they don't break your own code of morality. The state doesn't always know what is best...I'll leave it at that.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

Complicated question with complicated answers. Many cases no... conservation through commercialization.... Meh, I could go on but instead will leave you with info to google.

Bearded dragon. Work the googlefu

Sent from my LS670 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Bottomfeeder]

What kind of question is that...

 

[ShadowStryder]

If your question and answers just pertain to the illegal export and smuggling from a country of the original origin of a given species that has a ban on them, then I am against it (smuggling). But if you are including people who keep an unbanned species in a restricted state then I have to disagree with many of these restrictions within certain states. Therefore your answers are not definitive enough for me. JMO

 

[ermgravy]

if this was worded as do u agree with individual laws it would of gone down a lot better for example the united states policy on cities registered Asian aro's is one such subject u could prob find a wide variety of views on.... as for anyone stating they condone breaking the law on such a vast subject its doubtful....

 

[DavidW]

OK, to be a little more specific, and as we are a fish forum....
A hypothetical American , or a European or an Asian goes to S.America and goes collecting fish that are totally controlled by the country being visited.
Arapaima Gigas from Brazilian Amazon for example, or Stingrays, or L46 zebra plecos, or poison dart frogs or other biolgical samples, such as plants that may provide a medical breakthrough and make $$abillion for a pharma company, but return no benefit to the country of origin.
This person pays a dirt poor fisherman what to the fisherman is a lot of money but to the visitor is not much relatively, to catch some and box up s to sneak them past IBAMA to take them home to sell for a BIG profit.
For countries like Brazil etc this is clearly eco-piracy , and an abuse of their hospitality.
So there are 2 parts to the 'crime', a legal one and a moral one.
Can either be rationalized or truly justified? ( especially if it is just for the fish hobby, and not curing cancer)
and if the answer is no, then what is the ethical component for why people keep buying from vendors who are known ( busted) smugglers?