EXOTIC animals are now popular among Malaysians, especially children, because they need minimal care, an exotic pet shop owner said.

Through the internet and YouTube, many children research the reptiles they like before asking their parents to buy them.

These exotic animals are said to be easy to take care of and cheap to feed.

However, conservationists said that exotic wildlife, while bred in captivity, can still be traded illegally.

Leslie Lim, the owner of Reptiles Super Store in Puchong, has dabbled in exotic animals since his university days.

What started out as a hobby has turned into a business supplying reptile food via his company Probugs Feed and eventually into an exotic pet shop.

“There’s a cool factor to owning exotic animals and right now, YouTube is everywhere and children will Google the animals they like,” Lim told The Malaysian Insight.

“Somehow, they are intrigued and they bring their parents here to purchase the animals for them.

“Dogs and cats take a lot of time to groom and feed, but snakes, for example, you just feed them one a week.

“It’s very simple, you don’t have to pay so much attention but you can teach your kids to be responsible.”

Lim sells a variety of reptiles, tortoises, frogs and rodents, which are bred and imported from the United States, Europe and even locally.

The price of the animals ranges from several hundred ringgit to tens of thousands.

“In Malaysia, the best-selling animal is the leopard gecko. For RM300 you can get a full set. We also have Aldabra giant tortoises that cost up to RM50,000 and snakes that cost up to RM25,000,” Lim said.

“Everything sold here is legal, some are protected, but we can provide a licence because they are imported legally.

“It is a common misconception that all wild animals are protected. Right now, a lot of protected animals are bred for mass production.

“It’s like conservation through commercialisation. In the US, 10 to 20 years back, the crested gecko was almost extinct, now it’s everywhere.”

Animals imported from the US are regulated by the US Fish and Wildlife department and once they arrive in Malaysia, they are licensed by the Wildlife Department.

Lim said many exotic animal owners now are also a lot more responsible and don’t just throw them away and disrupt local biodiversity.

“It’s a lot better than before. Last time people bought and just threw them away. Right now, for exotics, people don’t release them in the wild because it costs a lot more money to buy them.

“It’s not like your green turtle that you buy for RM5. The money part of it prevents them from throwing the animals away, they may try to sell it online.”

Veterinarian care for exotic animals is also a lot more readily available than before, Lim said.

Legal breeding could lead to illegal trade

Conservationist Wong Pui May said while some of these animals are bred in captivity, it could still lead to illegal trade.

“If there is a risk that rare wild specimens would be laundered and sold as captive-bred animals, then breeding and trade of that animal should not be allowed,” Wong said.

Data from wildlife conservation group Traffic showed Black Bear farming in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam was driving unsustainable trade in bear bile and other products, while contributing to the illegal trapping of wild populations.

Meanwhile, tiger farms in China, Vietnam, Thailand and Laos pose a direct threat to efforts to increase wild populations, perpetuating consumer demand for tiger products.

According to Traffic, the legal wildlife trade is worth €100 billion (RM455 billion) in the European Union alone, but this is often overshadowed by wildlife crime and illegal trade.

If people do choose to own exotic animals, Wong said, it is pertinent that they are well informed.

“It’s too broad of a stroke to say that all wildlife should not be traded. Fish that we eat is wildlife too, and by some definitions, timber and medicinal plants as well.

“I am not against people keeping exotic pets but would like to stress that people need to be responsible pet owners, from finding out where the animal came from to providing the specific care it needs until the end of its life,” she added. – August 1, 2022.