Japan: Penchant for Exotic Animals Fuels Harmful Trade
12/12/99
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Title: ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Penchant for Exotic Animals Fuels Harmful
Trade
Source: InterPress Service
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 12, 1999
TOKYO, Dec 12 (IPS) - Busy lifestyles and cramped apartments make it
difficult for the average Japanese to keep ordinary pets, prompting
many to go for smaller, more quiet animals to keep them company.
But often, this penchant for exotic animals fuels the importation of
wild animals and banned creatures, ranging from tortoises to threatened
orangutans. Worse, many soon tire of the novelty or are unable to care
them, and eventually abandon the animals.
Indeed, Japan has experienced a boom in the exotic pet business, whose
value has risen 30 percent to 7.8 billion U.S. dollars, from five
years ago.
In some cases, collectors pay huge amounts to get hold of strange
animals, such as a businessman who bought a giant stag beetle for
95,240 U.S. dollars in August this year.
Recognising the problems that this interest in exotic pets bring
about, the Japanese Parliament or Diet passed on Dec 9 the first major
amendment to its animal protection law in 26 years, one which enforces
harsher penalties for abusers of animals.
Fusako Nogami, head of the non-governmental organisation Alive, lauded
the legislation that amends the Protection and Keeping of Animals Law,
especially the inclusion in its scope of wild animals, a species that
are been increasingly bought as exotic pets in Japan.
''The new law marks a major landmark in our battle to make Japan a
safer place for animals. But there is still a long way to go before
animal rights are respected,'' says Nogami.
Nogami explains that a major disappointment has been the absence of a
law, already enacted in most western countries, that paves the way for
the government to stop the operating licenses of pet shops or breeders
caught abusing animals.
''This is an absolute must if cruelty to animals is to be stopped, for
the punishment would be devastating to businesses," she says.
The amendments to the law increase penalties from the old rate of
30,000 yen (285 dollars) to 300,000 yen (2,857 dollars) for abusing or
abandoning pets. People injuring their animals could face up to one
year's imprisonment and a one million yen (9,523 dollars) penalty.
Statistics released by Alive reveal that Japan is the world's biggest
market for wild birds, and rare breeds of tortises protected under the
Convention XX International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The bigest suppliers are countries in South-east Asia and Latin
America. In 1996, the Japanese market for illegal importation of
tortoises captured 55 percent of the total world figure, and 42
percent that of the total for wild birds.
But even this figure may not give a complete picture, because they
only represent animals that have been caught or their shipments
apprehended, says Hisako Kiyono of the World Wildlife Fund, Japan. The
actual number could be double, or even more, she points out.
The reptile market, including beautiful snakes and iguanas, is also
growing in Japan. According to reports from pet shops, around 80,000
people own similar creatures, with some of rarer species selling for
300,000 yen (2,857 dollars) each.
The Indonesian embassy also reported recently that four orangutans
smuggled into the country in December last year will soon be returned
to their home, in the jungles of Kalimantan in eastern Indonesia. The
animals were bought by a pet owner who has been arrested on suspicion
of violating the species preservation law.
Activists point out that another reason behind the government's
enactment of stricter laws on animal ownership and the pet industry is
an outbreak of diseases carried by foreign or non-native animals, as
well as threats to Japan's natural species that such imports may pose.
In November, the Health and Welfare Ministry recommended a total ban
on monkeys from Africa to avoid the Ebola virus and said it will
restrict the number coming in from Asian countries to avoid other
infections.
Japan imports monkeys mostly for laboratory tests, with the rest sold
as pets. China, the Philippines and Vietnam are the biggest exporters
of the animals.
Likewise, the fate of abandoned exotic animals has stoked discussion.
In September, the government debated a series of cases that involved
people abandoning reptiles that they had owned as pets.
The Environment Agency has also found that imported animals may pose a
threat to Japan's ecosystem. The black bass, from North America, is
reported to have invaded parts of Japanese rivers, making up 99
percent of the fish population in some areas, researchers say.
Activists say the recent amendments to the law are not only about
animal rights, but are closely linked to larger issues such as the
preservation of the ecosystem and Japan's contribution to efforts to
protect biodiversity in countries where some of the exotic animals
come from.
''Taking orangutans out of Indonesian forests, for example, is not
only against the rights of animals but also upsets the natural forest
management systems, which is an added cause for banning these imports
altogether,'' explains Nogami.
Still, activists concede that this task will not be easy because of
low awareness among the average Japanese of these issues, and because
companies, such as those in the pet industry, usually put business
before animal rights or conservation concerns. (END/IPS/ap-
en/sk/js/99)