Illegal Amphibian Trade is a Problem

[gwand]

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-whered-frog-illicit-online-amphibian.html

 

[anewbie]

Not surprising - any method of making money that is not legal is likely to be done by some. I'm sure some fishes are illegal catch/exports as well as elephant tusks and leopard pelts. Sometime it is poor people just trying to make a living and sometime it is rich arses trying to show off to friends.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

This is news?
I've sold hundreds and hundreds of captive bred dart frogs. Most hobbyists are respect there are a few bad apples of course. I know people that have brought in illegal.frogs. The good news is the hobby polices itself. Word spreads very quickly concerning illegal activities. USFW officers are regularly undercover at reptile shows. In fact a few years ago there was a bust that stemmed from the Hamburg PA show.
Yes illegal frogs are a problem. Take this locale of Demdrobates tinctorius "Tumucumaque" that is endemic to a protected national park in Brazil. These animals were smuggled out of Brazil by the expert smugglers. Europe.
Yes there are captive bred specimens available, but the founding stock was smuggled illegally. Brazil still owns those captive bred frogs and if they chose to do so they, in cooperation with USFW could sieze all the captive bred specimens any time. I wish they would too. Currently it's an easy Google search to find immoral sellers offering these illegal frogs for sale. I hate when scumbag a holes with no morals ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Thanks for pissing me off first thing in the morning.

 

[gwand]

Thanks for pissing me off first thing in the morning.

My pleasure

 

[squirley]

Well saying its illegal makes iit sound dangerous.
I might start telling people i have illegal fish to make them sound cooler.

 

[GaryE]

I have been present when people called in to importers (of fish) demanding they smuggle endangered or illegal species. The importer says no, and the f-bombs come flying out of the phone. I'm told it happens regularly, and I've seen/heard it more than once.

There are some seriously unintelligent (to be polite) selfish people out there - lots of them.

 

[anewbie]

I have been present when people called in to importers (of fish) demanding they smuggle endangered or illegal species. The importer says no, and the f-bombs come flying out of the phone. I'm told it happens regularly, and I've seen/heard it more than once.

There are some seriously unintelligent (to be polite) selfish people out there - lots of them.

Not sure unintelligent and selfish go hand in hand though perhaps the issue should be studied.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

All these smuggled animals have one thing in common. They don't come to the U.S. directly. They are smuggled to Europe, openly traded at the Hamm show, bred in captivity, then shipped to the U.S.
Germans, Poles, Czechs are your primary offenders .

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Frog smugglers in Slovakia - VSquare.org https://share.google/5bc7oJUsFCgYTKNMM

Costa Rica deports a German caught smuggling over 400 frogs and reptiles in takeout containers - The World from PRX https://share.google/RL2kEHRB9sUF9TPiE

How lab breeding could put an end to frog smuggling : Planet Money : NPR https://share.google/IPI26qa6mIZfsS14d

Smuggled poison dart frogs found in hotel after tip-off https://share.google/aI9Y9xByu364OSrzP


Thousands of Turkish Frogs Rescued From Smugglers https://share.google/oeykvKd0u6ghprlCn

FYI illegal animals are the second most valuable contraband, second only to illicit drugs.

 

[Zer0Fame]

Hey,

happens with fish in Germany.

Glofish are highly(!) illegal here. Yet you regularly find them for sale.
Openly. On the German version of Craigslist.

Most likely by the people that once bought them, not knowing they were illegal.

 

[anewbie]

And people get upset when puppies are put in a bag. Lets just face it - people are evil.

 

[gwand]

Russia killed opposition leader Alexei Navalny using toxin from dart frog, UK says

There is no innocent explanation for the toxin being found in samples taken from Navalny's body, Foreign Office says.

www.bbc.com