This one has been bothering me. It's not just a UK thing, but I am going to use my country as an example.
Here in the UK, a large number of (typically Greek) tortoises were imported 40-60 years ago that have been living solitary lives in someone's backyard. They graze the summer away and every winter they're boxed and hibernated.
They're pre-CITES. No papers. Can't be sold. Can't be exported and hence can't be returned to the wild.
The people who bought them are ageing. They're starting to die or move to smaller homes. Their torts may well have another 50 years and more ahead of them.
The owner's children may be in a position to take over like my husband, or they may have an obvious candidate friend (@collette is one of these people)... or there's a problem.
I predict the problem is going to get worse in the next couple of decades as more of these torts who have been quietly living beneath the radar need new homes.
They're not cute little babies that are attractive to new keepers (Joe weighs 7lb) and they need plenty of outdoor space, but our island is crowded and gardens are getting smaller.
It's undoubtedly a similar story in other countries round the world - pet tortoises outlive their humans.
New tortoises are being bred as pets in large numbers and adding to the number in captivity. In some (non EU) countries wild torts continue to be caught/imported and kept as pets too.
Realistically these pet trade animals are never going to be returned to the wild. Who knows where they originated from?
This problem isn't getting smaller; it's getting bigger with every cute clutch of hatchlings a breeder hatches, no matter how good the breeder is.
So are we, as a human race, creating a time bomb by continuing to breed (and import) these animals at pets?
Will we, or are we getting, to a point where we have an unsustainable number of larger older animals that need solitary outdoor space in captivity?
Over to you?
Here in the UK, a large number of (typically Greek) tortoises were imported 40-60 years ago that have been living solitary lives in someone's backyard. They graze the summer away and every winter they're boxed and hibernated.
They're pre-CITES. No papers. Can't be sold. Can't be exported and hence can't be returned to the wild.
The people who bought them are ageing. They're starting to die or move to smaller homes. Their torts may well have another 50 years and more ahead of them.
The owner's children may be in a position to take over like my husband, or they may have an obvious candidate friend (@collette is one of these people)... or there's a problem.
I predict the problem is going to get worse in the next couple of decades as more of these torts who have been quietly living beneath the radar need new homes.
They're not cute little babies that are attractive to new keepers (Joe weighs 7lb) and they need plenty of outdoor space, but our island is crowded and gardens are getting smaller.
It's undoubtedly a similar story in other countries round the world - pet tortoises outlive their humans.
New tortoises are being bred as pets in large numbers and adding to the number in captivity. In some (non EU) countries wild torts continue to be caught/imported and kept as pets too.
Realistically these pet trade animals are never going to be returned to the wild. Who knows where they originated from?
This problem isn't getting smaller; it's getting bigger with every cute clutch of hatchlings a breeder hatches, no matter how good the breeder is.
So are we, as a human race, creating a time bomb by continuing to breed (and import) these animals at pets?
Will we, or are we getting, to a point where we have an unsustainable number of larger older animals that need solitary outdoor space in captivity?
Over to you?