# Apologies in Advance



## mooielawson (Jun 17, 2012)

At the risk of starting another Komodo Dragon-esq thread, i was wondering if anyone in the UK privately keeps Tasmanian Devils?

Purely hypothetical as i have no interest in acquiring or owning one of these critters but they do seem fun/feisty from what I have seen of them on TV. Although I do recall seeing a programe about the populations being decimated through disease. 

Im sure i could just Google it but figured it would be more interesting to go to the experts to ask if they are covered by the DWA or not. 

Im sure the CITES and the age old "would a private keeper be able to offer more than a zoo?"which is all above my head arguments come into play so im merely asking of anyone does keep these?

Cheers and apologies for taking up your valuable time. 

Mike


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

mooielawson said:


> At the risk of starting another Komodo Dragon-esq thread, i was wondering if anyone in the UK privately keeps Tasmanian Devils?
> 
> Purely hypothetical as i have no interest in acquiring or owning one of these critters but they do seem fun/feisty from what I have seen of them on TV. Although I do recall seeing a programe about the populations being decimated through disease.
> 
> ...


Tasmanian Devils are not listed under CITES, so there is no issue there.


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## mooielawson (Jun 17, 2012)

Thanks for the speedy reply and please excuse my ignorace - does their none cites status just mean that they are eligble for import? 

Although i enjoy reading the DWA threads, my corn snake didnt require much paperwork...


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

There would, I am sure, still be some issues around quarantine. But they would not need to have CITES export/import papers as they are not listed on any of the Annexes.
CITES listed species can still be imported, you just need to have the paperwork in order.


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## mooielawson (Jun 17, 2012)

this could open a right can of worms for me - blackpools first tasmanian devil farm! Surely thats a better tourist attraction that some crappy tower! :2thumb:


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## Gratenkutzombie (Dec 28, 2012)

From what i understand, the whole captive bred and 80% of the wild populations of tazzie devil's are under threat from a facial tumor disease that is currently incurable with a 100% death rate after 12-18months. Don't hold your breath about them not being CITES in the very near future.


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## Gratenkutzombie (Dec 28, 2012)

And yes, they die of starvation. Poor devils.



Gratenkutzombie said:


> From what i understand, the whole captive bred and 80% of the wild populations of tazzie devil's are under threat from a facial tumor disease that is currently incurable with a 100% death rate after 12-18months. Don't hold your breath about them not being CITES in the very near future.


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## ian14 (Jan 2, 2008)

Species can only be added to CITES, or be moved from one Appendix to another, following the annual conference. It doesn't happen overnight. CITES is not a conservation tool, and this is something that people often mistake it for. It is an international agreement to allow sustainable trade in species, rather than acting as something to protect the species. The two are closely linked, but different.


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## mikeyb (May 8, 2011)

is tazzy not under the same exportation issues and mainland aus though for all there wildlife fauna. imo it would be a great idea making them availible for the exotics market as if your getting healthy animals your then producing gene pools all over the world which could potentially save them if the wild population does die out from this facial tumour disease. only issue i can see is the animals being used in private collections would need to be screened first before any exports go ahead or you could be just moving the disease


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## mooielawson (Jun 17, 2012)

i had a feeling this would involves CITES discussions :whistling2:

Would i be right in assuming then that there are no private keepers of tazzies or if there are, they are very few in numbers?

And for the record i completely agree in the post above about gene pools being advanced through screening and breeding programmes.


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## bonzosbuddy (Aug 31, 2013)

I think the programme was where they created a tasmanian devil island in australia where they were rescuing and rearing orphans etc and releasing them into a stable habitat to observe the species which could be a lead up to the topic of this discussion...
It would be good to expand genepools but get these creatures in the wrong hands and you could end up with some very cruel situations along the lines of bear baiting and dog fights...


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