Fed: Tarantulas caught in pet trade web
BRISBANE, Aug 22 AAP - Australia's tarantulas were at risk of disappearing from thewild due to the increasing demand to have them as pets, a spider expert has said.
The Queensland Museum's Dr Robert Raven said the spiders, which can fetch up to $200each, were disappearing at a rate of about 200 a week or 10,000 a year.
The spiders were mainly taken from Queensland's forests, which contain the bulk ofAustralia's tarantula species.
One shop in north Queensland reportedly sold 700 Australian tarantulas to pet ownersin one year, Dr Raven said.
"The public has got to show their disinterest or dissatisfaction with the way thingsare going at the moment," Dr Raven said.
"These things are being taken out of the wild without any monitor."
But labelling the animal protected would only raise more problems creating a blackmarket for the spiders, Dr Raven said.
Dr Raven said a widespread education program was needed to combat the trade.
"For me the issue is to try and recruit the people who are selling these things, likeforesters, and ... teach them to manage and plan and captive breed," he said.
Dr Raven said most owners also did not know enough to care for their tarantulas whichcan live for up to 25 years.
Pet owners could also receive spiders which had not been scientifically identified.
Only three to four out of the 25 species had been named to date, Dr Raven told TheVeterinarian magazine.
Dr Raven is the curator of arthropods at the Queensland Museum and is a spider systemistspecialising in funnell-web and tarantula spiders.
He is currently supervising a joint project with the University of Mexico which involvesraising tarantulas in captivity in order to understand them.
AAP ved/sc/cjh
KEYWORD: TARANTULA (PIX AVAILABLE)
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