Japan: Laws can't keep up with surge in exotic pets--or irresponsible owners

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http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200509290100.html

 

Laws can't keep up with surge in exotic pets--or irresponsible owners

09/29/2005

The Asahi Shimbun

 

A 4-meter-long Burmese python drew gasps. Further south, a ball python was

shying away from equally startled onlookers. An emperor scorpion scuttled in

the west, while a crocodile swimming upstream drew curious looks.

 

These exotic creatures were not found in rain forests, deserts or swamps.

They were captured near the concrete jungles of Japanese urban centers.

 

Government officials suspect these animals were once kept as pets, but they

had either escaped from their owners or were abandoned as they grew too

large to handle.

 

Officials fear the growing popularity of " alien " pets will lead to more

foreign creatures proliferating in the Japanese wilderness, wreaking havoc

on ecosystems.

 

And laws cannot keep pace with the recent trend, officials say.

 

One estimate is that about 700 alien species live in the Japanese

outdoors-and there is no way of knowing the exact number of species being

kept inside.

 

Although some laws have been strengthened to keep out foreign animals,

Environment Ministry officials say legal measures are not necessarily the

answer.

 

" This is an issue that involves the morality of pet keepers, " said Katsuhiko

Shoji, who heads the ministry's animal protection office. " That needs to be

addressed even before we discuss legal issues. "

 

However, pet shops dealing in exotic creatures are mushrooming across the

country. Some officials note it is easy for people to obtain rare species

through the Internet.

 

" We can even get you a pink snake, " Takayuki Nikaido, 29, president of

reptile shop Burden, said.

 

The shop in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward displays about 600 species in a

70-square-meter floor space. It places orders to breeders overseas and

imports alien animals, most of them indigenous to Southeast Asia, Africa or

South America.

 

A 50-centimeter-long white tortoise in the shop carried a price tag of 3

million yen.

 

Nikaido said an American dealer keeps reptiles in Indonesia in a jungle-like

enclosure that is a big as four Tokyo Domes.

 

A government survey in fiscal 2003 showed that 2.4 percent of pet owners had

reptiles, around the same percentage as those keeping rabbits. The ratio of

reptile owners was 0.4 percent in fiscal 1979.

 

According to Yaseisha Corp., publisher of pet business publications, 794 pet

shops dealt with reptiles in 2004, more than twice the number a decade ago.

 

The problem occurs when the pets are abandoned, officials said.

 

The crocodile, likely cute as a pet, had grown to 1.1 meters in length when

it was captured Sept. 21 by a policeman who had to wade in the Sagamigawa

river in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture.

 

It took five police officers about two hours to catch the Burmese python,

which was spotted by a man in suburban Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, on Sept. 9.

 

 

The ball python was captured this month at East Japan Railway Co.'s Urawa

Station in Saitama, while a green iguana was found in another part of the

prefecture.

 

The emperor scorpion, a large but not-so poisonous species, was collected at

the home of a business operator in Osaka Prefecture.

 

Officials say if these creatures are not caught in time, they could cause

irreparable damage.

 

Imported beetles are a current craze among children and can be bought at

shopping centers. But if these beetles are released, they could start

breeding with indigenous beetles. Red-eared slider turtles, common in North

America, have been found in various parts of Japan eating the eggs of

indigenous turtles.

 

The Invasive Alien Species Law, which took effect in June, targets 37

creatures that could endanger people's lives, the agricultural or fisheries

industries, or the ecosystem. The law prohibits, in principle, importing,

keeping and trading in these animals, including Rhesus monkeys and Taiwan

habu snakes.

 

The Environment Ministry plans to add 42 species to the list. But pythons

and emperor scorpions are not likely to be included.

 

The law banning cruelty to animals was revised in June to impose higher

fines against those who abandon animals-from the maximum 300,000 yen to

500,000 yen. The revised law also requires dangerous creatures to have ID

chips inserted in their bodies.

 

" Today's owners want exciting creatures, but tire of them too easily, " said

Eiichi Takada, an expert on reptiles. " They seem to be losing respect for

the mysteries of the living creatures. "