Vanessa
Grammostola Groupie
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Tarantulas: Canada becomes top exporter of Mexican pet
From the above...
"Canada has become the top exporter of Mexican tarantulas, Mexican officials say.
There is a growing market for the creatures, which have become popular pets.
Mexican biodiversity official Hesiquio Benítez said he had been shocked to find Canada had overtaken Mexico, where the spiders originally come from.
Mr Benítez said Canadian breeders were exporting 14 species, while Mexicans only traded in five or six.
He said that until a few years ago, Canada would buy its tarantulas from Mexico and then sell them on, but that growing demand had led Canadians to start breeding their own.
"Canada doesn't have any native species [of tarantulas] but they've got their act together," Mr Benítez told news agency Efe at an international tarantula workshop in the Mexican city of Guadalajara.
In Mexico on the other hand, 14 out of the 24 species of the red-knee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) can be found in the wild, according to Mexico's Biodiversity Commission, Conabio.
These tarantulas are particularly popular in Asia, Europe and the US because of their vibrant colours, and an adult spider can fetch up to $425 on the black market.
To legally export them, a permit issued by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is required.
Mexican breeders legally produce between 11,000 and 14,000 yearly, most of which are exported to Canada and the US.
Mexican officials said the aim of the workshop was to find ways of fostering the sustainable and legal trade in the animals, as well as training indigenous communities to safeguard the spiders' habitat."
From the above...
"Canada has become the top exporter of Mexican tarantulas, Mexican officials say.
There is a growing market for the creatures, which have become popular pets.
Mexican biodiversity official Hesiquio Benítez said he had been shocked to find Canada had overtaken Mexico, where the spiders originally come from.
Mr Benítez said Canadian breeders were exporting 14 species, while Mexicans only traded in five or six.
He said that until a few years ago, Canada would buy its tarantulas from Mexico and then sell them on, but that growing demand had led Canadians to start breeding their own.
"Canada doesn't have any native species [of tarantulas] but they've got their act together," Mr Benítez told news agency Efe at an international tarantula workshop in the Mexican city of Guadalajara.
In Mexico on the other hand, 14 out of the 24 species of the red-knee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) can be found in the wild, according to Mexico's Biodiversity Commission, Conabio.
These tarantulas are particularly popular in Asia, Europe and the US because of their vibrant colours, and an adult spider can fetch up to $425 on the black market.
To legally export them, a permit issued by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is required.
Mexican breeders legally produce between 11,000 and 14,000 yearly, most of which are exported to Canada and the US.
Mexican officials said the aim of the workshop was to find ways of fostering the sustainable and legal trade in the animals, as well as training indigenous communities to safeguard the spiders' habitat."
Or, and this is the more likely scenario, the BBC is just full of poop again!
