if you found wild cought zebras what would you do!

trigger123 · Post by **trigger123** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:43 am

personalt i would black mail the little thingy saying that if he dosnt hand over the goods then im gna repot him to the authorities! nah but if i did report them then the fish would mostlickly be destroyed

and i would rather have wild caught breed them and help the wild stocks then rather have them destroyed because some people dont understand their situation and its illegal but this is my oppionio!

Plastic Mac · Post by **Plastic Mac** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:58 pm

I'm not quite sure what you are asking...

So from what I can gather what you're saying is, you'd happily blackmail the seller to get the zebra's cheap because you're under the belief that somehow the authorities would destroy the fish.

Please explain why the authorities would destroy the fish?

I'm not sure what I would do...however I would not blackmail someone.

trigger123 · Post by **trigger123** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:18 pm

it was just a joke! authorities arnt going to send ZP back to the wild for a few reasons...

cost
time
trying to sort it out with the brazilian fish and game!
disease

i woudnt really black mail someone for it would make me just as bad as them! but id be really angry!

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:14 pm

WTF???? What was the point of this topic???

Post by **Barbie** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:09 pm

I have to agree here. I miss seeing the point. I also miss seeing the proper spelling and punctuation so people from different countries around the world have a chance of interpretting what you're talking about. PLEASE, if you know you have an issue with spelling, run what you're posting through spell check first. Then stop and think about whether you're posting something that's actually going to add value and information to the board. Due to a recent rash of just this sort of problem, the moderation team is forced to be more proactive about it. Thanks for your help!

Barbie

Andyt. · Post by **Andyt.** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 6:18 pm

I think Trigger 123 is asking how we would handle it if we walked into a store and saw zebras and were told they were wild caught...

I remember when seahorses were placed on the CITES list there were "blackmarket" seahorses here and there. Most dealers, IME, are too responsible to deal in this sort of thing and would not carry a species captured illegally.

If I walked into a store advertising wild caught zebras I'd talk to the manager and make sure they were aware of the problem and situation. Don't know that I would report them.

I suspect that if the authorities did confiscate the fish they would wind up in the hands of a zoo or public aquarium.

Post by **Barbie** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:02 pm

It's not illegal to buy or sell wild caught zebras. I think this is where people get confused. Brazil has removed them from their "allowed to export" list. They can still decide to issue special "permits" for their export and have a few times that I know of in the last year. There has been no ecological impact study done to determine if the numbers are even declining. Many people feel this is an economic impact measure only, to drive the price back up on one of their higher dollar fish exports. I'm not debating it needs to be done, but people seem to forget that the pressures on this fish aren't just created by hobbyists. There are very real plans in the works for a dam that will drastically negatively impact the same fish that the government is trying to protect at the moment. The dam has been temporarily put off, to my knowledge, but that doesn't mean the plans have been cancelled, by any stretch of the imagination. The people in Brazil that are living without electricity couldn't care less about some striped little fish that might be affected.

Barbie

Andyt. · Post by **Andyt.** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:35 pm

Thank you for the detailed clarification.

Sadly, it is hard to argue with people living without electricity. Even sadder is the fact that hydroelectric is "clean" energy rather than other, less clean alternatives.

I'm not sure I accept the explanation of this being an economic measure only. Even if Zebras sold wholesale for $500 each, Brazil would have to sell a small mountian of them to make significant money. So I don't know that I accept that explanation.

dave · Post by **dave** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 11:42 pm

As per the previous posts, the export of fish even at $500 wholesale will have little effect on any economy.

Also nobody really knows anything about the wild population.

But about people not caring about this fish in conditions we can't imagine, I have to disagree.

Lets pluck figures out of thin air for fish collection for export, 1 cent for 10 of the local characins, 1 or 2 cents for the local ancistrus and say 5 cents for a zebra.

Combine this with local knowledge, a fish that retreats into caves and crevices, easy to catch.

To me for people who live off the land, whatever $5 for 100 zebras is significant income.

Logic here suggests that the Brazilian Government might just have it right.

Dave

trigger123 · Post by **trigger123** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:27 pm

I thought that there would be biologists working with the Zebra Pecos in their natural environment? Like they do with mammals! They aren’t going to grow back population wise if brazil builds that huge dam, but im shore the zebra would love the current: lol:

! Nah but serious how did they get the elephant of the endangered list and onto the risk list? by studding them and learning about them so they know how to look after them better! not by building huge complexes through their natural habitat! and I know people with out electricity is bad and needs to be sorted ASAP!

Andyt. · Post by **Andyt.** » Mon May 01, 2006 2:39 pm

Think about it from the perspective of a brazillian official. You have this massive region of your country without electricity. True, it is not a hugely populated region but it could be... if there was power. Right now that region produces minor economic benefit for the country from tourism, tropical fish, other exports.

But with electricity, now you can envision small towns becoming manufacturing centers, small resorts becoming tourist centers, cities growing. The economic value of the region increases exponentially. The life expectancy of the population will go up, the child mortality rate goes down. Now you can envision schools, roads, hospitals, factories... all of that versus a couple of species of colorful fish.

If you were a local you could imagine that this would mean more opportunity for you and your family. You would earn more money; your family would have access to better health services... heck, if money flows into your region, then they might even build a nicer church! Again, weigh all those wonderful things versus the worth of a couple of small fish. Unless you catch fish for the trade, you probably don't even care about them at all.

And if you are a landowner, well, that's hitting the jackpot. Electricity will make the value of your land skyrocket. You're going to be rich! Who cares about a silly fish! Man, you've got it made!

That's what our poor zebra pleco is up against. On the Zebra's side are some indigenous tribes, some tropical fish collectors, a few conservationists, some scientists and us.

I hate to sound pessimistic, but I think that we need to get to breeding. This is one animal that may be extinct in the wild before we even know it.

if you found wild cought zebras what would you do!

if you found wild cought zebras what would you do!

My interpretation

Thank you

Hi

I'm afraid you're not thinking of this realistically