Hi Daniel and all,
The island of Mauritius is not that big (58km x 47km) and almost 70% of the
land is agricultural, industrial or residential! Only the southern part is
intact with in the south-west the Black River National Park and in the
east-south-east the Bamboo Mountains. In the higher altitudes of the Black
River Reserve (Maccabee Forest) lives P.guimbeaui rosagularis and a smaller
population occurs in the Bamboo Mountains. P.guimbeaui guimbeaui lives at
lower altitudes in the Black River National and its surroundings. These
areas however are highly populated and only a few mature tree-patches are
left. The densest populations of P.g.guimbeaui are found on the slopes
towards Maccabee Forest that due to its steepness will remain unspoiled,
except when the animals are disturbed by other factors such as collection. I
never believed before that collection could have an impact on wild
populations until I saw the situation in Mauritius. Do not forget that
P.cepediana and P.ornata populations are everywhere and as soon as adult
P.g.guimbeaui is taken away, their place will be taken by P.cepediana or
P.ornata giving little chance to the offspring to develop to adults as their
preferred habitat is taken. No where else on the island is a suitable
habitat for P.g.guimbeaui unless they adapt to sugar cane, which is
impossible ofcourse!
Emmanuel
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2001 10:12 PM
Subject: Re: AW.: Re: [Gecko] Phelsuma imports and Parasite loads
> In a message dated 1/31/01 5:46:14 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> <<
> Again I can agree with you to the point that I, too, was convinced at
that
> time
> that I had bought CB animals which had had a lot of natural daylight and
> lived in
> large groups, and therefore had the typical WC coloration and the wounds
> that many WC often carry away after smaller fights. And I talked to the
> breeder
> personally several times at different occasions and was trusting in his
> words.
> >>
> Hello-
> I agree entirely with your post, Hartmut.
> I would like to add that the animals I saw and bought 3 years ago were
> captive bred.
> Seeing these latest imports only confirms this. The difference is
striking.
> Anyone with any small amount of experience with phelsuma can see in one
> glance that these imports are wild caught.
> But I believe we can't be certain they are illegal. The way I read CITIES,
> any member nation reserves the right to set the quota for permits. CITIES
> requires permits for export. It doesn't set limits on exports. Any nation
can
> grant -read SELL- unlimited permits. Perhaps this is how they got here.
> Does anyone really know the import history of these animals?
> Anyway- good luck to anyone who bought some.
> Jason
>
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