This archive report was first published on 8 November 2019.
Kenya is among countries exporting large numbers of captive-bred chameleons and tortoises to meet growing demand for pets overseas, according to data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
The Cites database reveals rising trends in exports of chameleons, peafowl feathers, and tortoises for commercial purposes, as well as growing exports of wildlife specimens for scientific research overseas.
Kenya's data on wildlife exports from 2014 to 2018 shows rising numbers in live chameleons, tortoises, peacock feathers, sharks, baboons, and plants, including African teak and Aloe Vera, forming part of the legal exports documented as shipped for commercial and research purposes.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) head of Cites Implementation, Solomon Kyallo, said reptiles are part of the wildlife products that are heavily traded across the world to satisfy the growing demand for pet trade.
“Pet trade on reptiles is huge. It has been growing over the years and some farms have ventured into captive breeding of these species. For such trade to get a permit, the population of the species is put into consideration and reproduction rates factored,” Amb Kyallo said.
Records from the Cites database show a rising trend from 2014, where exporting countries declared importing 4,119 chameleons and 3,959 tortoises from Kenya. The trend soared in 2015 with exported tortoises tripling to 10,870, and by the close of 2017, the number of exports on tortoises had hit tenfold from 2014, with numbers skyrocketing to close to 40,000.
Importers of Kenya's chameleons and tortoises include Germany, the US, Spain, Britain, Canada, China, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, and the Netherlands. Cites lists top importers of reptiles from Kenya between 2012 and 2014 as Hong Kong, Germany, Taiwan, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, and Japan, among others.
Wildlife Direct CEO Paula Kahumbu said wildlife products should not be sourced from the wild to satisfy the growing pet trade, and those exported should be from licensed firms that are breeding for exports.
“Only those licensed should be exporting particular species that are captive-bred or ranched, but not those which are endangered. Sourcing wildlife from the wild for commercial purposes is illegal,” Dr Kahumbu said.
