Herpetoculture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Herpetoculture is the keeping of live reptiles and amphibians in captivity, whether as a hobby or as a commercial breeding operation. It is predominantly, but by no means exclusively, an amateur activity conducted by people with little or no formal background in herpetology or other natural sciences. It is slightly different from pet keeping in that a few of its practitioners are somewhat more dispassionate towards their animals; few herpetoculturists give names to their animals, which they might dismiss as sentimental anthropomorphism. All are nonetheless dedicated to their collections, which are frequently sizeable, and spend much of their spare time, money and energy tending to them.
The word "herpetoculture" was apparently first devised by Tom Huff to distinguish what he, as a self-described "herpetoculturist", was doing -- working to keeping reptiles and amphibians alive -- from what herpetologists of that era were generally doing, namely, collecting specimens for preservation in a museum collection.
There is a growing distance between amateur herpetoculture and professional herpetology. With the field's increasing focus on conservation biology, some herpetologists believe that herpetoculturists are part of the problem: that collection from the wild by reptile and amphibian enthusiasts for the pet trade is having an adverse impact on wild populations. While many captive bred reptiles and amphibians are offered for sale at pet stores and reptile shows, many animals sold are still wild-caught or captive hatched. Complicating the matter further is the growing problem of exotic species escaping or being released into the wild where they establish populations outside of their natural ranges, part of the larger issue referred to as invasive species.
Herpetoculturists respond that with few exceptions, wild collection is incidental and trivial compared to the losses resulting from habitat destruction and modification, highway mortality, and killing by people out of fear or ignorance. Many herpetoculturists maintain that their animals are bred in captivity wherever possible and that their captive breeding efforts may actually help to preserve threatened species; still, little if any of the captive stock produced by herpetoculturists is used to stock wild populations, nor could it in most instances due to the risks involved.
In recent years, however, the word "Herpetoculture" has been claimed by enthusiastic reptile pet keepers to describe what they do. They use this word to define themselves and their unusual hobby of reptile pet keeping and breeding. These people are caring animal lovers who have a passion for the keeping of reptiles. They come from all walks of life. Often they are just regular people. Modern herpetoculturists recognize that the true threats to the world's wild reptiles are habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation by human development but realize that collection for the pet trade can be a threat as well. Among modern herpetoculturists it is extremely taboo to purchase a wild caught reptile and in the interest of conservation some people support the thriving population of captive-bred reptile pets by becoming breeders.
