Status of Exotic Animals in Taiwan Through a Survey of Pet Trade

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1 Status of Exotic Animals in Taiwan Through a Survey of Pet Trade Shih-hsiung Liang, Jiun-hong Chen, Ping-chun Hou, Ming-chung Tu, and Bao-sen Shieh Professor Dept. of Biotechnology National Kaohsiung Normal University

2 Economic Damage of invasion animals invasive aquatic invertebrate $1,207 million US (US Congress 1993) 2001 $ 336 Billion US US, UK, Australia, South Africa, India, and Brazil (Pimentel et al. 2001)

3 Negative Impact of Invasion Animals Predation Competition Hybridization Disease and parasite Ecosystem Modification Threat to human safety and health others

4 Invasion Mechanism Shipping hulls, ballast water, and dry ballast Non-Shipping Commercial enterprises (agriculture, seafood, bait, and pet trade) Research and Education Use (public aquarium and universities) Private and Government activities (biocontrol, man-made canal, and restoration) (Shannon et al. 2005)

5 Pet trade is an important pathway of animal invasion Aquarium ornamental trade is the most important pathway of invasion by nonindigenous species worldwide (USGG 2003, Hayes et al. 2005) 1/3 of the IUCN listed 100 worst invasive species originate from aquarium or ornamental release (Padilla and Williams, 2004)

6 Invasion animals through pet trade in Taiwan

7 objectives to establish the species list of exotic animals, including aquatic invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds, in pet trade of Taiwan To identify pet animals with high invasion risk To suggest management strategies to prevent further invasion of exotic pet animals

8 Materials and Methods Sampling Period: March 2004 Feb. 2005, and survey continued annually until 2009 Sampling location: Urban regions in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan Sampling sites: pet shop, aquarium, night market, wholesaler, chain store Sampling frequency: seasonal (4 times/yr) Invasive potential : based on the recorded number, appeared frequency, native geographic region, and known invasive situation around the world

9 Survey Result Animal Categories Shop No. Shop - Records Identified Species Invertebrate 278 > Fish > 293 exotic Amphibian Reptile exotic (23 unidentified) Bird 146 > exotic Total 1266 > 1593 > pet shops, more than 1600 shop-records, and greater than 1000 exotic species were documented

10 Invertebrate 993 recorded species, 109 commonly imported species (freshwater 13, Marine 96) Freshwater: mainly Decapoda (62%) and Gastropoda (38%) (shrimp, crayfish, and snail) Marine: Anthozoa (73%) and Decapoda (11%) (coral, shrimp, anemone, crab, clam, starfish, sea cucumber) Tropical Asia region are the major imported locations; Freshwater 60% (119/199), Marine (Pacific and Indo-Pacific region 68.2% (677/993). Freshwater species, especially snails, may have a higher invasive potential in Taiwan

11 Exotic invertebrate with higher invasive potential Cribrinopsis crassa Alcyonium palmatum Lima scabra Phyllorhiza punctata Pomacea bridge Indoplanorbis exustus Cherax destructor Procambarus clarkii

12 Fish 836 commercial names, 293 exotic species in 48 families Native geographic regions: mainly from tropical area Africa (110, 37.5%), Central & South America (101, 34.5%), Asia (59, 20.1%), others (23, 7.8%) 16 invasion species, 12 are still commercialize Invasion species Belontiidae (6, 37.5%), Cichilidae (4, 25%), Loricariidae (2), Cyprinidae (2), Poeciliidae (2) Current invasion pet fishes are mainly Asian and Central & South American species with high pollution tolerance, flexible feeding habits, and young-protection behavior

13 Exotic fish species with higher invasive potential Cichlasoma salvini 七彩波羅 Cichlasoma citrinellum 紅魔鬼 Cichlasoma managuense 珍珠石斑 Geophagus brasiliensis 鑽石藍星 Barbodes schwanenfeldii 泰國鯽 Hypostomus plecostomus 琵琶鼠魚 Trichogaster leeri 珍珠馬甲 Trichogaster labiosa 大紅麗麗 Trichogaster trichopterus 青萬隆 Trichogaster lalia 一片藍麗麗 Poecilia reticulate 孔雀魚

14 Amphibian 52 species in 15 families (3 native, 49 exotics, exotic/native ratio: 16) Native geographic regions: North and South America (27, 51.9%), Africa (19, 36.5%), Asia (15, 28.8%), and others (3, 5.8%) Families with higher recorded number Dendrobatidae (10), Hylidae (6), Leptodactylidae (6), Mantellidae (6) 16 species are listed in CITES Appendix II Most frequently displayed species: horned frog (Ceratophryscranwelli), American bullfrog (Ranacatesbeiana) Invasion species: Asian painted frog (Kaloulapulchra), American bullfrog

15 Exotic amphibian species with higher invasive potential Cynops orientalis 中國火龍 Litoria caerulea 懷特樹蛙 Ceratophrys cranwelli 綠角蛙 Lepidobatrachus laevis 圓眼珍珠蛙 Lepidobatrachus llanensis 貓眼珍珠蛙 Dyscophus guineti 蕃茄蛙 Xenopus laevis 非洲爪蟾 Rana catesbeiana 美洲牛蛙

16 Reptile 239 exotic species in 32 families: Lizard (126, 52.7%), turtle (85, 35.6%), snake (26, 10.9%), gator (2, 0.8%) 111 species are listed in CITES Appendix I, II, and III Larger pet shop carry most of species (89%, 213/239) Seasonal turnover rate is high, averaged 31.5% (seasonal new species: Jun-Aug 29, Sep-Nov 22, Dec-Feb 22) At least 14 species are considered dangerous to human

17 Exotic reptile species with higher invasive potential Trachemys scripta elegans 紅耳泥龜 Carettochelys insculpta 豬鼻龜 Macroclemys temmincki 鱷龜 Pseudemys concinna 甜甜龜 Geochelone elegans 印度星龜 Eublepharis macularius 豹紋守宮 Iguana iguana 綠鬣蜥 Lampropeltis getula californiae 加州王蛇

18 Uniqueness of pet Amphibian and Reptile in 3 major urban regions in Taiwan Amphibian Total species Unique Species Reptile Total Reptile Species Unique Reptile Species S p e c i e s S p e c i e s Northern Taiwan Central Taiwan Southern Taiwan Regions Northern Central Southern 0 Northern Taiwan Central Taiwan Southern Taiwan Regions Northern Central Southern 1. Whole sales imported different animals from different countries in different seasons (mean averaged uniqueness %: approximately 30%). 2. The pet wholesalers in 3 major urban regions in Taiwan are independent, indicating each region has its own suppliers.

19 Bird 2005 survey: 261 exotic species in 28 families, 1995 survey: 85 exotic species, Increase more than 3 times in 10 yr Based on these two surveys, at least 290 exotic pet birds are imported into Taiwan in the last 10 years. 93 species escaped, 28 (30.1%) in 11 families breeding in wild Bird families with statistically significant higher escaping and breeding rate than the others Greater Escaping rate: Sturnidae (19, 19/23), Timaliidae (8, 8/14), Cacatuidae (7, 7/11), Pycnonotidae (4, 4/5) Higher breeding rate: Estrildidae (6, 6/10)

20 Exotic bird species with higher invasive potential 1. 爪哇雀 2. 白尾八哥 3. 白頭文鳥 4. 大陸畫眉 5. 栗腹文鳥 8. 葵花鳳頭鸚鵡 10. 九官鳥 7. 紅色吸蜜鸚鵡 9. 印度銀嘴文鳥 6. 家八哥

21 Conclusions (I) Pet trade is an important pathway of animal invasion in Taiwan Commercial exotic/native species ratio = Fish 100%; Amphibian 16; Reptile 33; Bird 4 Regional pet wholesalers and chain stores need to be monitored 1. Wholesalers carried most exotic animal species 2. Seasonal imported different animal species from different countries 3. Regional wholesaler in major cities of Taiwan might be independent, especially for amphibian and reptile

22 Conclusions (II) Currently, Invasion pet animals in Taiwan are mainly originated from tropical Asia and central/south America Potential regulation and management suggestions 1. establish foster home program by retailers 2. Education display at public aquarium and museum, pet shop, school, 3. Higher custom duty or selling tax 4. Risk assessment and management priority index (in progress) Prayer animal release are required to be monitored and regulated

23 Thank You This study is supported by Forestry Bureau, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yen Taiwan, ROC