My memory of Arusha was a bustling bus depot as my twin sister and I backpacked from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi. I’d woken to a view of Kilimanjaro as I opened the door of my cheap hotel room – a view that still holds firm in my mind - after an impromptu stop in Moshi the night before. Then it was back on a bus and onward north with a budget that didn’t stretch to the tours of Tanzania’s Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater. Thirty-two years later and regrettably they remain on the to-do list! I was reminded of Arusha as I read the history of CITES. It was at the IUCN’s Arusha Conference  on Conservation in Modern [...]

Undoubtedly, the illegal trade in wild species in Australia and across the globe has received more media exposure in recent years. Illegal activity in Australia is most commonly associated with the exotic pet trade. Our country’s unique species means birds, reptiles, mammals and even insects are in high demand worldwide. Maybe because the illegal trade out of Australia consists mostly of live animals, concealed in boxes, bottles or wrapped in clothing, the mainstream media (MSM) has decided they constitute a good public interest story. Images accompanying articles show the wildlife victims of the trade, their little bodies constrained and contorted, it isn’t hard for the MSM to identify villains and victims that people can relate to. My work [...]

In the years I have been researching the live trade in wild species, with a particular focus on the species listed by the CITES convention, what constantly amazes me is how obviously the system is flawed and yet how little action or apparent interest there is in seeing this improved. Our most important treaty governing trade in wild species is neglected to the point it is rendered unfit for purpose. Over this time, I have read numerous accounts of high mortality rates in supply chains, welfare issues that must cause unimaginable levels of stress and suffering, spread of disease to other animals and humans as well as potential biosecurity risks. There is no doubt that the legal trade [...]

If any profession should have the loudest voice on issues of animal welfare and species conservation, it’s the veterinary profession. We are the ones who in many cases take an oath to care for animals, who dedicate our lives to their wellbeing. But are we, as a profession, truly living up to this responsibility? Why are we not the loudest voice yelling from the roof tops on these issues? As veterinarians, we are entrusted with the health of countless individual animals, but is this enough? The world’s wildlife populations are in crisis, ecosystems are being destroyed, and species are disappearing at an alarming rate. We have the knowledge, the science, and the compassion to do more, but are [...]

During 2023 and 2024, as I undertook a deep dive into the exotic pet trade (EPT), little did I know where this would lead. Over this timeframe, I wrote a series of articles for Nature Needs More: Petted To Death – Australia’s Little Known Contribution To The Extinction Crisis, Australia’s Exotic Pet Trade Is Both Surprising And Rising, We’re Oceans Away From Saving Nemo, The Risky Business Of Heavy Petting, and Exotic Pet Trade Risk Reduction Strategies. In article 5, I said I expected to wrap up the series with a blog exploring the strategies of Demand Reduction, Reverse Listing (Positive Listing) and Cost Recovery. But on reflection, after everything I had found, one final article just didn’t seem [...]

In my past 4 blogs I have explored Australia’s involvement, both legal and illegal, in the global Exotic Pet Trade (EPT). The world’s desire for exotic pets is only growing and as previously highlighted, “the scale of trade for the EPT is enormous around the world. In the years 1996-2012 it is thought that 18.8 million CITES listed reptiles were imported into the EU – an astounding figure when you consider that 75% of reptiles are not listed on CITES. While the US alone is thought to import more than 11 million aquarium fish annually representing more than 2300 species.” Warwick et al suggest that potentially 13,000 species are traded in the global EPT. Australia plays a hand [...]

In this fourth article investigating Australia’s role in the exotic pet trade (EPT), Dr Cameron Murray explores the risks associated with the EPT. To read the investigation in full:     Article 1: Petted To Death, introduces Australia’s little known contribution to the extinction crisis. Article 2: Australia’s Exotic Pet Trade Is Both Surprising And Rising, discusses the blurred boundaries between the legal, legalish and illegal trade. Article 3: We’re Oceans Away From Saving Nemo, takes a dive into how Australia supplies the aquarium trade Over the last 3 articles on the Exotic Pet Trade (EPT) we’ve explored Australia’s contribution through legal and illegal channels. But why is this of interest to us and why should we care? [...]

In this third article investigating Australia's role in the exotic pet trade, Dr Cameron Murray takes a dive into how Australia supplies the aquarium trade. To read the investigation in full:     Article 1: Petted To Death, introduces Australia’s little known contribution to the extinction crisis. Article 2: Australia’s Exotic Pet Trade Is Both Surprising And Rising, discusses the blurred boundaries between the legal, legalish and illegal trade. In this third article, exploring Australia’s role in both the legal and illegal exotic pet trade, I head to the ocean and under the waves; diving into the back story of the world of Nemo. Those that have seen the original film will remember how the famous clown fish [...]

So how does Australia contribute to the global Exotic Pet Trade (EPT)? The scale of it is surprising, apparently rising and happens in legal and illegal ways. On top of this, it seems a level of naivety has in the past contributed to Australia’s involvement.  As such I will look at this in three categories – Australia’s 1. LEGAL 2. LEGALISH and 3. ILLEGAL contributions to the EPT. As discussed in my last blog, Petted To Death, many would assume that Australia’s commitment to CITES and our own comparatively strict environmental legislation through the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) would mean that any LEGAL contribution to a global EPT would be as good as non-existent. [...]

Surely Australia doesn’t really have any involvement in a trade of wildlife to the rest of the world for purposes of pet ownership, does it? Pet ownership couldn’t really be a significant driver of the biodiversity loss across the globe, could it? This is my first blog for Nature Needs More having become a director nearly one year ago. I have had a long interest in the wildlife trade centred around rhino conservation and the issues associated with the trade of rhino horn. My interest and knowledge on the wider issues of the wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, grew from there and, as a veterinarian, a natural extension of this was to delve into the subject of [...]