Poor Regulation, Thriving Pet Trade Threatens Monitor Lizard Populations in SE Asia

Southeast Asian monitor lizards are facing a significant population threat fueled by the unsustainable trade of the reptiles as pets and a growing market for their colorful skins.

A team of German and Indonesian scientists recently published a comprehensive study on the conservation and threatened status of all known species of monitor lizards known in Southeast Asia and called for a revision of approved export quotas and more regulation in the trade of the reptiles.

Although all monitor lizards are protected under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the researchers report the trade of monitor lizards is poorly monitored, with export quotas frequently ignored.

Authorities responsible for regulating trade of monitor lizards often do not have adequate knowledge about the reptiles. "For that reason, we created a comprehensive identification key of all monitor lizard species of the study region including many photographs," said Evy Arida from the Indonesian National Natural History Museum, who also co-authored the study. "This key shall assist the management authorities and customs to improve the enforcement of current legislations in order to warrant sustainable conservation of Indonesian monitor lizards."

Skins of monitor lizards are the third highest demanded type of reptile skin, behind crocodilian and giant snakes, according to a news release from the Hemholtz Center for Environmental Research. Much of the trade is illegal, yet it persists in spite of national and international laws and regulations in place to prevent it.

Annually, Indonesia documents the legal export of 450,000 skins of the water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator), which are used to manufacture a number of fashion accessories such as handbags and watch straps. The researchers say the huge numbers of monitor lizards leaving Indonesia legally is poorly monitored and under-regulated, leading to grave threats to the survival of several species of monitor lizards.

"Here over-exploitation and extinction are closely linked," said zoologist Andre Koch of the Alexander Koenig Research Museum in Germany.

Germany is a large market for much of the international lizard trade and will be the site of the world's largest reptile fair on June 8, the press release stated.

"It is their colorfulness, their rarity value and strong protection status that drives the demand. Quite often four-digit amounts are paid, for pairs occasionally even five-digit sums," said the study's senior author Mark Auliya, who is listed as an expert on the reptile trade and Southeast Asian conservation issues. Auliya said even the large komodo dragons are regularly traded, despite international regulations against it.

Auliya said that separate research conducted by his Australian colleagues found that only one in three monitor lizards destined for the pet trade actually make it into the market. Most of the lizards end up dying due to the cruel conditions they are kept in during the primary stages of the trade route.

"Consumers should be aware of their responsibility in purchasing wild captured reptiles. Therefore, captive-bred specimens from reliable sources must always be favored and also strongly promoted." as Auliya added.

The research was published in the journal Herpetological Conservation and Biology.