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Hi all,
i thought id post about what happened to me last year. Being the idiot i was i decided to import some Zebras at this time last year. I was aware of rumours that they were banned however i was unable to find any fir evidence (checked CITIES etc). I went ahead and got in touch with someone in Recife (Helio Carvalho) who advised he could send me a box. I contacted a few people he shipped though and previous buyers and got good feedback so i went ahead and sent $1500 for 30 fish.
I was stung along for a while and eventually realised that the swine (ive edited that somewhat) had done a runner. I contacted my bank to recall the money (no joy) i was put on to the Brazilian embassy and nothing could be done there either.
Im now a year wiser, i have six Zebras ive gotten through the year and im hoping that if i can breed them i follow though with my intentions of giving any ofspring to the local zoo, Aquarium and to Ian Fuller who kindly gave me a couple for helping him with his website.

I wondered if anyone else has tried to import them before (obviously before the ban or in ignorance like myself) and has anyone else dealt with this guy?

Chris
"lighter in the wallet /Heavier in the brain cell"

sorry to hear.........

No I haven't..

Still on the search for my own Zebras... I have none at the moment

Chris hi!
I was so saddened to hear your story & I wish you every success with your breeding program.

If only some people would stop seeing £$ signs & think about the bigger issues of conservation!

A couple of points, about the conservation aspect.

Not knowing about the export ban and trying to import this fish, most LFS's that used to stock this fish know about it.

Ian Fuller who is mentioned in the initial post I am sure must know about it.

The Zoo in question I have dealings with, has a policy of only stocking captive bred animals, whether there is a ban on the export of a species or not, to me this is conservation at it's best.

I refrained from posting until the initial post was combined with the mention of conservation.

How I ask, does attempting to get L46's illegally exported from Brazil help conservation?

Dave

Hi Dave,
As i noted i wasnt aware of any ban and i nievely believed that anything truly banned from export would be listed on CITIES. At the time the aquatic shops were actually telling me they could get hold of them and when asked no one had a concrete answer on weather there was a ban or not (I dont actually remember asking Ian about the ban and i only mentioned him as some where to go to him)
Consevation wise when these fish are already taken from their habitat and said habitat is likely to be destroyed (by a dam in this case) the preservation of a species would depend on those individuals removed for breeding purposes. Many species have been saved in this way by building up populations away from any potential hazard only to return them at a later date when conditions return to those needed by such species (many species of Oceanic turtle are around today due to captive breeding projects of this nature and such species as the Galaxids of New Zealand have benifited from similar invervention)
Regarding the Zoo in question im afraid i wasnt made aware of that (and had been told by one store that they were doing the very same thing).
As i noted ignorance is my only excuse for trying to import whilst the ban was on however my intentions were for the benefit of the species

Would it not be better for conservation if we were to breed from captive bred fish, therefore leaving whatever small amount is left to its own devices in the wild, even if there is a danger that their numbers could be cut hugely by for example,a dam. I, IMO, dont believe the answer is to take them all out of the wild, trusting their future existence to us getting their tanks set up right. I don't see the obsession with having to have wild caught fish, i have just seen an ad from a reputable dealer on the net selling wc zebs for £265 each- its wrong on so many levels.