Illegal wildlife trade on rampage? As Hong Kong border opens, mainland Chinese pet shops offer to smuggle rare animals into city
- Monitor lizards, Gila monsters and more on sale, as experts fear post-pandemic wildlife trade is rising
- More detailed data on imported pets needed to check origins of exotic, endangered animals, expert says
The discovery of a critically endangered Siamese crocodile in Hong Kong’s New Territories on April 30 has raised concerns that the smuggling of rare and exotic animals is on the rise with the reopening of borders.
An online check by the Post found several pet shops in mainland China that claimed to have endangered and vulnerable species for sale, and some said they could sneak the animals into the city.
Some experts believe the 1.9-metre (6.2-foot) female crocodile was smuggled into Hong Kong as a pet and abandoned. It is being kept in quarantine temporarily at Ocean Park.
Siamese crocodiles have disappeared from 99 per cent of their habitat in Southeast Asia, with no more than 1,000 believed to be surviving in the wild.
Dr Astrid Andersson, a wildlife forensics expert at the University of Hong Kong, said local regulation of imported animals as pets was not detailed enough.
“We need to know the volume and the species’ specific details so we can track where the sellers got them and if they are being overexploited,” she said.
This mysterious crocodile was caught in Hong Kong’s countryside
However, she added it was impossible to determine from mere appearance if an animal was taken from the wild or came from breeding facilities.
Noting that the crocodile found on April 30 was not in good condition, she said sick wild animals kept as pets posed a health risk to their owners and others as zoonotic diseases could pass from the animals to humans.
“Turtles, for instance, can give their owners salmonella,” she said, adding that ebola, Hendra, influenza and rabies were other examples.
The Post found about 3,200 online pet shops listed on mainland Chinese shopping platform Taobao, with one in four offering delivery to Hong Kong.
Seven of the 25 shops approached said apart from domestic pets, they also offered wallaby calves, Gila monsters and crocodile eggs.
Some said they could bring in a range of animals, including sugar gliders, the pocket-sized nocturnal mammals native to Australia.
They are not endangered but importing them is banned in Hong Kong. They are available on the mainland for as little as 250 yuan (HK$283).
One pet shop owner promised a full refund if the animal died while being delivered, or the buyer could order a replacement.
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Another shop said it could help buyers source monitor lizards and Gila monsters from Southeast Asia, with an extra 12,500 yuan for shipping into Hong Kong.
Several species of monitor lizards are endangered. Gila monsters, also called beaded lizards, are native to the United States and Central America, with a species in Guatemala hunted to fewer than 200 surviving in the wild.
A seller who sneaked animals into Hong Kong said: “Smaller animals are fairly easy to conceal among cargo but larger ones, or animals that make a lot of noise, are more difficult.”
He said business was hit during the Covid-19 pandemic when the border was closed, and animals could only be transported by sea.
“Now that the border is open, everything is much easier. We can make several trips a day,” he said.
Sam Inglis, a wildlife programme manager at environmental group ADM Capital Foundation, said a resurgence in the illegal wildlife trade was inevitable.
“Hong Kong is acting as a thoroughfare for these species,” he said. “Once an animal leaves the pet shop, we don’t know whether it is living in someone’s home, if it’s dead, if it’s been cooked or used in a health tonic or illegally exported.”
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department confiscated 506 animals at border checkpoints this year up to March, including 310 birds and 193 reptiles. There were 1,099 confiscated over the whole of last year, down from 4,633 in 2021.
Under Hong Kong law, shops need a specific possession licence to keep endangered animals such as poison dart frogs, softshell turtles or crocodiles, no matter whether they are wild or bred.
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They also need a licence for species that are monitored internationally for trade in specimens from the wild, including chameleons, iguanas and monitor lizards.
Private owners do not need a licence to keep such animals, but must provide documents showing the chain of transactions if they take the animals out of Hong Kong.
Offenders face penalties of a fine of up to HK$10 million and 10 years’ jail, and the animals will be forfeited.
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From 2017 to 2021, the department filed 115 prosecutions over the illegal import of live animals without relevant permits or health certificates, of which 112 resulted in convictions.
Hong Kong customs said it worked closely with the department and its overseas counterparts in tracking the illegal trade of endangered species.
The Post has contacted China’s General Administration of Customs for comment.
