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Defenders in Action: Invasive Species Put Country At Risk
As the world’s largest importer of live animals, the United States receives hundreds of millions of animals each year, with the majority destined for the pet and aquarium trade. But this trade poses serious environmental, health and economic risks, according to a new report from Defenders of Wildlife.
The Defenders’ report, Broken Screens: The Regulation of Live Animal Imports in the United States, notes that more than 2,200 types of non-native creatures were imported legally into the United States between 2000 and 2004. Of those, 302 could be invasive or pose a disease risk to humans, livestock or wildlife.
“With more than 300 known, potentially risky, non-native species being imported, it is foreseeable, based on past experiences, that at least some of these animals will escape or be released into the wild and form viable populations or cause disease outbreaks,” says Peter Jenkins, international conservation director at Defenders.
Most imported animals are not required to undergo a quarantine period or to have proof of veterinary clearance from their country of origin. “A tropical snake trapped in the wild in Africa, Asia or South America could arrive at a home in central Florida in a matter of a few days,” says Jenkins. “If this ‘pet’ then escapes or is purposely released, it could become a new wild resident of North America.”
Examples of species that have already escaped and become problems in this country include European starlings that displace native songbirds from nesting sites, the voracious northern snakehead fish, which is changing the ecosystem of the Potomac River in the East, and dangerous Burmese pythons in the Everglades.
“The most effective way to stop the impacts of harmful imported animals and pathogens is to block their entry in the first place,” says Jenkins.
The report calls for Congress to fix the “broken screens” at our borders with a series of precautionary steps, including adopting a comprehensive risk-analysis screening process (such as those used in New Zealand and Australia) that evaluates species before they are imported and ensuring that full species identification is included with every animal shipment.
For more information and to read the report, please visit www.defenders.org/animalimports.
