Dear Mr. Wells,
1. There are more captive bred tigers then there are captive bred
P.flavigularis, and back in the late 80's and early 90's hundreds of these
animals where imported.(More than tigers anyway) So your statement that
they are easier to breed is false!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Tigers are easily bred in captivity also! If I am not mistaken we werent
speaking of captive bred but wild caughts and certainly there are far more
flavigularis then there are tigers in a smaller area in nature and I would
still bet that reproduction rate as well as numbers are higher then the cats!
2. Most of the European collections that you mention are NOT bought in a
pet-store! These animals were imported on a very small scale by specialist
breeders with NO commercial goals! Most of the 'rare' species are traded
among other specialist breeders in Europe and do not see the tanks of a
pet-store or a commercial breeder at all.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Your post to this esteemed group was one of warning and basically said "Dont
buy these animals they are smuggled" true or false? Now almost in the same
breath you state that the animals "imported" otherwise known as smuggled by
us lower classed so called pet collectors and breeders, are justified as
such because they are going into the hands of "experienced breeders" of
course these people dont do dirty things such as breed for money either! God
Forbid! I get your point and agree with you that most Phelsumas in particular
dont belong in the conditions most petshops present. We dont disagree there
at all! I do however have a problem with the " I am exempt" attitude you have
taken and the justification that you can do something illegal because of your
self appointed status! Somehow the arrogance of it all has gotten to me I
guess?
3. Phelsuma guimbeaui and its subspecies live in a very restricted area on
Mauritius Island. You even can not do a study on the density of these
species per hectare as their biotope is even smaller! I have been visiting
Mauritius for the past 8 years and the population decreased alarming over
these years. It took me 5 days last year in May to spot my first
P.guimbeaui at a spot I have been researching for many years.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Apparently by the numbers supposedly being smuggled by this one person alone
and the cheapness that they are sold for, this cant be true? Is it possible
you just dont know the good spots to look in?
Don Wells
There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by reading. The
few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the
electric fence for themselves.
