Australia’s innovative solution for illegal wildlife trafficking | Catalyst

Technology has provided us with a new weapon in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.
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[@stevie-ray2020]

When I was living at South Granville some years back, & occasionally cycled past AusPost's Customs facility shown here, but as it's a restricted area it's interesting to see what new tech they're now using inside!
Keep up the good work all you Customs officials/workers in the job of stopping those cruel bastards!

[@Maxi.Dounut]

The fact that some of these smugglers don’t even bother to put the animals in boxes with snall holes so they can get oxygen is just…

[@ruaidhrikathygill8833]

Very interesting!

[@SpencerHHO]

The problem is there is no transparent legal way for people to legally export specimens in a sustainable manner. When you have species like most bluetounges that have a large captive bred population in the pet trade there should be a way to legally export captive bred specimens to collectors overseas. A regulated, legal and sustainable industry will compete and undermine black market wildlife export.

[@michaelsutton7053]

Interesting i didn't realise this, definitely worth investing in legit exportation options as the wildlife in Australia is highly desirable

[@SpencerHHO]

@@michaelsutton7053 yeah you look at common bluetounges in the US they start at 200USD and can be much more whereas in Australia they are inexpensive, require no licence to own and have a large captive bred population. As the law stands today if you breed already captive bread specimens and try to export them, you may as well have collected them from the wild as far as the law is concerned. It doesn't take an expert to see that there is a massive difference between the two in terms of conservation.

[@madiis18account]

@@SpencerHHO you absolutely need a license to keep any native reptile in Australia

[@SpencerHHO]

@@madiis18account Do more reading, each state is different but in Victoria you can keep Eastern and common bluetounges, common skinks and at least one frog species without a licence. I personally have a licence for my carpet python and most wildlife does require a licence to own but not all by any means.

[@madiis18account]

@@SpencerHHO The more you know. In NSW all reptiles require a license.

[@raracygno]

This is great to hear. It always makes me a bit sad because there are so many RUclips videos with people and their pet Australian parrots, sugar gliders and lizards. As it is illegal to keep many these as pets in Australia I keep thinking they must be either trafficked or descendants of trafficked animals. And how many of them died, were put in traumatic conditions and populations made even more vulnerable in the wild because of it. Great job AI researchers.

[@Specogecko]

They’re bred in captivity lol

[@raracygno]

@@Specogecko While more of them are being bred in captivity their parents and grandparents often were not. The majority of the pet trade involving native Australian animals will have been built on a foundation of illegal smuggling.

[@Specogecko]

@@raracygno not really…. Plenty were legally imported before recent export bans were put in place…. Just like why you can get non native birds as pets in Australia, the majority were legally imported….

[@gamingandartwithjordyyt4011]

anyone know what this tech is called (gotta use the concept for an assignment)

[@skybluskyblueify]

While wildlife is lost by smuggling the rest of modern Australian life is killing even more off. This is true wherever mining, dumping, polluting, non-native predators and pests etc. come with people[i.e. not unique to Australia].Greed will kill off the rest of endemic plants and animals. Good to see you are trying but voting for people willing to protect Australia's life is the real key.

[@Specogecko]

Wish they could legally export captive bred animals…..

[@hakimcameldriver]

You can buy any australian animal, bird or plant in the usa,

[@tonyadeney1245]

impressive use of tech - sometimes think world would be nicer with less people - not criticisng this team doing good job but some of the wildlife crime and wildlife cruelty in UK - makes you wonder what people are thinking .... if they think at all ..

[@phoenixspirit2503]

the airport could open a zoo of its own, it's sad tho

[@LabRat6619]

HARSH sentences will stop this business eventually. No slaps on wrist.

[@samkidd7313]

Training an AI to make them all redundant and they don't even realise it

[@bugloverspiderlover8490]

If Australia would actually allow exports of their native species to other breeders overseas,this wouldn’t be as much of an issue. A lot of people in the us would love to own and breed many species of inverts and reptiles from there.

[@potatoes1640]

The issue isn't about not allowing animals be exported.
The problem is the environmental implications from exporting these animals. There's always risks such as introducing diseases and invasive predators to another ecosystem.