tar-an-tu-la's....gota catch em all!

[lightning123]

Just wondering....are there any tarantulas that exist but
Are not available in the hobby, for any reason weather
It be the fact there endangered...or just too dangerous to keep.

 

[Cuddly Cobalt]

I would assume so, its more likely that there is an undiscovered species somewhere

 

[grayzone]

dude, scientists and people discover new species of living things every day. 1/2 the world is terrain one t or another could inhabit. theres probably MANY species out there that arent in the hobbby yet.

 

[lightning123]

dude, scientists and people discover new species of living things every day. 1/2 the world is terrain one t or another could inhabit. theres probably MANY species out there that arent in the hobbby yet.

Sorry. I'll re-phrase my question. Are there any tarantulas that have already been discovered that are illeagal to keep....for any reason

 

[Cuddly Cobalt]

Sorry. I'll re-phrase my question. Are there any tarantulas that have already been discovered that are illeagal to keep....for any reason

i dont think so, maybe something extremely endangered but i have no idea

 

[Mez]

It's not keeping them that's illegal, its trying to smuggle them out of Brazil or wherever has stopped exports.

 

[Raven9464]

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services "Sting"

This is an article from the Los Angeles Times from Dec 2010;


It took a nine-month sting to bring down “Spiderman,” but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services are confident they’ve got their man.

German national Sven Koppler has been charged with illegally shipping $300,000 worth of tarantulas into the U.S.

“(Koppler) is one of the largest importers of illegal tarantulas into the United States. He has been doing it for several years,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Williams told the Los Angeles Times.

Authorities became suspicious when hundreds of tarantulas began turning up in routine mail searches.

Koppler would place up to 250 live tarantulas inside a single package, the agency alleges, wrapping them inside small plastic tubes before covering them with coloured plastic straws.

A number of the animals intercepted did not survive the trip from Germany.

“Operation Spiderman” was set up in March to track down who was behind these strange eight-legged shipments. Posing as buyers, agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received five packages from Koppler containing hundreds of tarantulas, including the endangered Brachypelma.

If found guilty of illegally importing wildlife, Koppler faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Torstar News Service

 

[Bill S]

This is an article from the Los Angeles Times from Dec 2010;


It took a nine-month sting to bring down “Spiderman,” but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services are confident they’ve got their man.

But if I remember correctly, this was not a guy smuggling wild caught species out of Brazil or other such places. He was shipping Brachypelmas (captive born) across borders without proper permits and paperwork. Common species for the most part - just technical violations.

 

[Scorpendra]

That's just because he was moving them illegally.

No. Not even critically endangered species like P. metallica and P. smithi are forbidden.

 

[killy]

I would assume so, its more likely that there is an undiscovered species somewhere

Besides, who's gonna know? Having a T in the house is not like having a barking dog or a chirping bird that the neighbors are gonna complain about ...

And if I may deviate from the topic just long enough to say that I absolutely LOVE that creeping spider emoticon! Looks like a B vagans, although the carapace may be a tad small ...

 

[Unravel]

i always wondered if there's something better looking than a p. metallica out in the wild somewhere :drool:

 

[smuey]

Poecilotheria hanumavilasumica, if i'm not mistaken, is a protected species which is not available in the hobby. If anyone has a confirmed specimen, i know of a few people here that would be very excited

 

[Cuddly Cobalt]

Besides, who's gonna know? Having a T in the house is not like having a barking dog or a chirping bird that the neighbors are gonna complain about ...

And if I may deviate from the topic just long enough to say that I absolutely LOVE that creeping spider emoticon! Looks like a B vagans, although the carapace may be a tad small ...

the link for the emoticon is in signature,

 

[Upjohn252]

Besides, who's gonna know? Having a T in the house is not like having a barking dog or a chirping bird that the neighbors are gonna complain about ...

And if I may deviate from the topic just long enough to say that I absolutely LOVE that creeping spider emoticon! Looks like a B vagans, although the carapace may be a tad small ...

Its genus Latrodectus

 

[sjl197]

Can we have some more responsibility of our actions in our hobby please?

There are species like P.hanumavilasumica that are legally protected, but thats nationally in India, and by trade regulations under CITES now thankfully. But that's the same as most Poecilotheria spp, and a few select other Indian species. Theres nothing to prevent these species being kept in the hobby if you accept stock will be illegally obtained. Its only us as hobbyists that can say whether it is irresponsible to keep such species.

The reason these species have now received national protection in India is because people like many of us here unthinkingly want to gather as many species and forms as possible, often with little or no thought of making sure the stock is responsibly, legally and sustainably acquired, and often without much thought that these species are then not maintained in the hobby over multiple generations. Many species seem to be kept as parts of fads or crazes, ie i must get Monocentropus, or i must get the newly discovered blue species. I have no problem with having many existing species in the hobby, but it's terrible to me when the existing species we have 'die out' in the hobby because many of us just care about the new fashionable species. Much later additional collections and imports must be made to replace the ones that died out the hobby, that i have a problem with.

There are perhaps 350/950 species of theraphosids in the hobby currently, and perhaps 150 more species un-described in the hobby somewhere or another. In most parts of the world its not illegal to keep any of these, but i would really like to see more of us considering it might be irresponsible to keep some like the recently re-described Avicularia diversipes and others in that paper (A.sooretama and A. gamba). Considering that the stock in captivity comes from illegal imports, and that the authors state these should be considered threatened species and placed on CITES and IUCN red lists, then surely the hobby should consider whether we should tolerate hobbyists keeping such vulnerable species, especially those with little or no experience keeping similar species. Now, if legal exports we made, certain species like P.hanumavilasumica could greatly benefit from captive breeding programs, but this must be done properly by registered zoos and experienced keepers, and using proper zoological records like stud books.

So, what i'm saying, for hobbyists to get respect, it would be great if more of us start demanding where our stock comes from, and how legally and sustainably it was required. So, as far as i know none are illegal to keep in most places. But, we can together decide which species it is irresponsible to keep.

Regards

 

[scar is my t]

Just wondering....are there any tarantulas that exist but
Are not available in the hobby, for any reason weather
It be the fact there endangered...or just too dangerous to keep.

Of course. Now not because there endangered and especially not due to danger it is just difficulty and supply. The P. mettalica is considerably close to being extinct in the wild but you can still get them. But sometimes things just dont work out for a species indoctrination to the hobby. They may just slip through the cracks and be forgotten. There are about 800 species known.

 

[ZergFront]

There are quite a few Chromatopelma species but there really only seems to be one subspecies (cyanpubescens) available. There are published papers about them but I haven't found any other Chromatopelma picture other than cyanpubescens.

Psalmopoeus is kind of like that even though they have more species available (4 well-bred into the hobby and a fifth just starting). There are still others in the wild but not available for purchase. There are other species in similar boats.

 

[Zoltan]

There are quite a few Chromatopelma species but there really only seems to be one subspecies (cyanpubescens) available. There are published papers about them but I haven't found any other Chromatopelma picture other than cyanpubescens.

You might be confusing Chromatopelma with something else. There is only one Chromatopelma species known to science (i.e. described): C. cyaneopubescens. Note also that C. cyaneopubescens is a species, not a subspecies.

 

[JC]

There are quite a few Chromatopelma species but there really only seems to be one subspecies (cyanpubescens) available. There are published papers about them but I haven't found any other Chromatopelma picture other than cyanpubescens.

cyaneopubescens is the only species in the Chromatopelma genus.

Gen. Chromatopelma Schmidt, 1995 [urn:lsid:amnh.org:spidergen:00205

C. Schmidt, 1995f: 25, type Avicularia cyaneopubescens (Strand, 1907).

mf cyaneopubescens (Strand, 1907) *....................Venezuela [urn:lsid:amnh.org:spidersp:001912]
Eurypelma c. Strand, 1907l: 35 (Dmf).
Delopelma c. Petrunkevitch, 1939a: 252.
C. cyanopubescens Schmidt, 1995f: 25 (Tmf from Eurypelma=Avicularia per Roewer).
C. c. Schmidt & Herzin, 1997: 12, f. 1-2 (m).
C. c. Schmidt, 1997g, 1998h: 15, f. 23-24 (m).
C. cyanopubescens Vol, 1999a: 11, f. C (f).
C. cyanopubescens Schmidt, 2000a: 11, f. 1 (f).
C. c. Peters, 2000a: 95, f. 310 (m).
C. cyanopubescens Schmidt, 2003l: 124, f. 87-89 (mf).
C. c. Peters, 2003: 139, f. 558, 561-563 (mf).
C. c. Peters, 2005a: 14, f. 10 (f).

The End...