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FOR YOUR INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE:
The ONLY Reptiles on the IUCN Global Invasive Species Database are:
Boiga irregularis, Iguana Iguana, Norops sagrei and Trachemys scripta elegans
(Of which the Iguana iguana are naturally occuring now in 3 gullies in Barbados
and like the Trachemys scripta elegans -- both are being captive-bred in
Barbados)
* No Tortoise species is invasive and no-one on Earth has ever been killed by
their pet Tortoise - so why can't the Herpetoculturalist in Barbados obtain
import permission for any Tortoise species?
The ONLY Amphibians on the IUCN Global Invasive Species Database are:
Bufo marinus, Eleutherodactylus coqui, Rana cataesbaeina and Xenopus laevis.
(Of which the Bufo marinus are naturally occuring in Barbados and the Xenopus
laevis are being captive-bred here)
* No Newts or Salamanders are invasive and no-one on Earth has ever been killed
by their pet Newt or Salamander - so why can't the Herpetoculturalists in
Barbados obtain import permission for any Newt or Salamander species?
Responsible keepers who only want to legally own these harmless pets are being
punished because irresponsible keepers (who smuggle in whatever they want
anyway) want to own illegal potentially dangerous (to man & the environment)
species. But is this democratic or just to decline EVERYONE the legal right to own ANY
Reptile or Amphibian pet?
* Indeed there is 'officially' no ban on the import of Reptiles and Amphibians
into Barbados, instead the would-be importer is given the 'song and dance'
routine about whatever you request - even if it is a species that was previously
allowed to be imported without incident - I might add, you will still be the
recipient of one excuse after another as to why the same species cannot be 'allowed
at this time'.
Do not hold your breath - for the 'not at this time' excuse has been repeated
like a stuck record since 1993!
Sometimes when convenient excuses cannot be invented - you will then be
burdened by an impossible set of red tape that will either make your prospective
import too expensive to bother - or make it downright imposible for you to satisfy
the criteria; I have qualified persons in the USA tell me that some of the
requirements on my official 'must have list' were not required anywhere else in the
world and it lends one to wonder if bird or mammal importers have to endure the
same treatment.
*One department will send you to another - depending on whether you apply for a
CITES or non-CITES species, knowing full well that the other department will
tell you that 'in their opinion these species might be invasive (although the
IUCN worldwide database does not reflect this), or pose theoretical health risks
(although no tangible evidence of any single case exists) , or is protected in
the wild (even though you might ask to import a captive-bred specimen and the
whole purpose of 99% of captive-breeding is to satisfy pet owners) etc - and no
amount of documentation to the contrary that you produce will change their
opinion, thus it boils down to a personal bias; if person X does not like Reptiles
or Amphibians per- se, and does not consider them to be pets - then too bad for
your democratic right to own a harmless pet of a non avian, mammalian or
piscean variety.
*The worst aspect of the entire 'anti-herpetological' prevailing bias in
Barbados since the 1993 has been this sad episode - the academic responsible for
advising the powers that be on things of a Herpetological nature was asked once by
a well known Pet Store owner and former Herp importer why even formerly allowed
species could not obtain import permission anymore - and the academic responded
in a very biased way by saying "As long as I am on the advisory body NO Reptile
or Amphibian will be allowed into Barbados as a pet".
I can only hope that a rational approach will be taken, and the Caribbean
Herpetological Society AND the organs of the Barbados government can sit down and
find a just common ground - thereby allowing law abiding citizens to own the
harmless pet of their choice.
Damon Gerard Corrie
Herpetoculturalist & Founder/President
Caribbean Herpetological Society
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