Shocking images

The below images were sent to me from Mark O’Shea via e mail today, needless to say we were utterly shocked.

I circulate to show this astonishing trade.

(No images may be used or copied from this forum)


What can we do?

all we can do is circulate them to as many people as possible, as reptiles arent seen as "cuddly" like other animals that are killed for their skins very few people will be aware that this is going on

Can I use the images to a blogpost? They would end up here: http://terrariummorbidum.wordpress.com/

Just to be able to spread them a bit?

If not, who can I ask for permission?

Hi Miqe

That will be fine, if Mark says otherwise I will let you know, awareness needs to be raised

Thanks for the interest.

Dave

David Nixon wrote:Hi Miqe

That will be fine, if Mark says otherwise I will let you know, awareness needs to be raised

Thanks for the interest.

Dave

Perfect David!

Would you mind sending me some more info regarding these pictures. Place, when, and so on. All info will be made into ( hopefully) a good post, and link to it will be sent back to you, or posted here.

Nothing to thank for. It´s a duty!

/Miqe

Miqe

I will try to find out for you, and send via PM

Dave

Disgusting. I'm glad Mark's on the case and anything I can do to help just ask.

It has always amazed me how i've been in herpetology for decades now and all this has basicly been ignored. It's almost as if there's a silent subliminal message floating around that tells us we just accept and ignore reptile abuse in Asia and indeed the rattlesnake round ups of US.

All other areas of sick abuse regarding other creatures like, whales dolphins, bears are confronted by those that care and reguarly brought into the light. Snake lovers however, that know how important these animals are ,seem to have chosen to sit back and bury their heads in the sand.

.

David Nixon wrote:Miqe

I will try to find out for you, and send via PM

Dave

Thank you.

/Miqe

I'll put a link straight to this page on FMAR.

I only have one comment "WHY?"

This certainly is a disgusting practice. I do not feel angry towards the workers, for them this is just a way to make a living, it is the owners of such 'business' and people who purchase the finished products that are at fault. However, im sure the workers could use more humane methods of dispatching the animals. As i have seen a several videos of what goes on, let me explain what happens. After the animals turn up from collectors, they are tipped out on the floor and hit several times over the head to incapacitate them to stop them from biting the workers. The animals are the noosed around the neck and strung up. They then have a hosepipe forced into their cloaca to fill their bodies and stretch the skin. Once they are almost full to burst (sometimes still alive at this point), they are decapited, either by pulling hard on the bodies when they are still strung up, or by an axe or knife. Finally, they are skinned.

All, below is the reply from Mark, I received today.

Dave


I was sent the images by a concerned Sri Lankan herpetologist but I would imagine the images originate from Indonesia (Sumatra and/or Kalimantan, Borneo), possibly Malaysia, (Peninsula or Sarawak, Borneo, but less likely)
I have not examined them closely, and have no wish to do so, but an IUCN report for 1989 shows that Indonesia exported 556,000 retic python skins, and 71,000 blood and short-tail python skins.
Most of these snakes pass through specialised snake slaughter houses in Sumatra and Borneo. See O'Shea 2007 Pythons and Boas of the World New Holland pp.30-31.


The snakes are killed primarily for skins but also harvested for meat and gall bladders to supply the ethnic Chinese populations.
Despite possible claims, these are not captive bred for the market, who could economically raise a python to adult size and then slaughter it for its skin, meat and bile, and expect to improve on their investment.

Pythons are often skinned alive, the same for crocodiles, apparently the skin is easier to remove.


Also of interest would be:
Erdelen, W. 1998 Conservation, Trade and Sustainable Use of Lizards and Snakes in Indonesia. Mertensiella (supplement 9) :xxiii+144pp.
Groombridge, B. & R.Luxmoore 1991 Pythons in South-East Asia: A review of distribution, status and trade in three selected species. CITES, Cambridge, UK. 127pp.


Hope this helps


Mark

A bit late, but still..

Here´s a link to the blogpost. If you want me to change it for some reason, let me know.

http://terrariummorbidum.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/pictures-on-how-snakeskin-is-collected-for-the-trade-warning-graphic-pictures/

Many thanks Miqe

David Nixon wrote:Many thanks Miqe

No need for that..

I have quite a lot of viewers on the blog ( about 150 - 250 unique a day ), let´s hope for some reactions.

Agreed, any chance of bringing the photographs higher up to the bottom of the txt, at first I didnt think they were attached.


Dave

David Nixon wrote:Agreed, any chance of bringing the photographs higher up to the bottom of the txt, at first I didnt think they were attached.


Dave

Hmm.. I can put the text between picture 1 and 2. Would that help?

Yes I think that would be better, the only reason I ask is because I was going to click off because I didnt think there were any photographs.

Cheers Miqe

Dave

David Nixon wrote:Yes I think that would be better, the only reason I ask is because I was going to click off because I didnt think there were any photographs.

Cheers Miqe

Dave

Ok.. Done..
What browser do you use?

Shocking and I feel sick.

This is another example of the rape of our planets natural wonders!

I dont know what else to say!

I seem to have made some stirring with this blogentry..

Over 200 visitors to it, today only!
Many from this forum (link to the thread): http://fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23350

Have alook at the blogentry via the link in a previous post, and see what others think..

Allmost 300 "hits" now, ( 289, as I am writing this ). Well, at least a part of the message goes out to people.

There is a dutch man there, that is pretty pissed, and he wants me to do something with the pictures. I´m guessing that it means that he thinks that I should take them away, witch I am not going to do.

Christ

Thats awfull

I keep pythons, they are amazing creatures -

thats brutal

Wow. I've never seen pictures this bad before and on such a large scale. They are two of my favourite species in the world so it's not nice seeing that at all.
Does anyone else go on http://www.unep-wcmc.org/isdb/Taxonomy/tax-gs-search1.cfm?displaylanguage=ENG&source=animals&habit= ?
I recommend having a look. Check out species like varanus salvator, python reticulatus and python curtis/brongersmai/breitensteini. You'll be shocked at the results.
For example:
This year (2009) 5400 Water Monitors are allowed to be taken from the wild in Indonesia for the pet trade. Sound like a lot? Well 426,600 are allowed to be taken from the wild and killed for skins. If you ever get anyone telling you that the Reptile trade is destroying wild populations let them know it's the women walking round London with designer Retic skin handbags that are really screwing them up.
Of course that's just the legal ones too... it's a lot easier to kill something skin it and sell that without paperwork than it is to catch it and export it without cites documents.

Laurie

This is a sad world.