Unleashed Threats: How the Exotic Pet Trade Fuels the U.S. Invasive Species Problem

What happens when an exotic animal owner realizes that they can no longer care for their “pet”? Many exotic pet owners find themselves in this unfortunate situation once their pet reaches full size, and becomes too aggressive and/or too expensive to care for. A very small, incredibly lucky, percentage of these pet owners may find a legitimate, accredited sanctuary to provide care for their animal for the rest of their life. Most of the time, however, the outcome is not so happy for the animal or the human.

For example, despite often being marketed by exotic animal sellers as “easy” and “cheap” to care for, reptiles have escaped or been released intentionally by their owners once they realize how large these animals get as adults or how expensive they are to keep healthy for their long lives.

Exotic Animals Can Often Live Independently in the Wild Far from Native Habitats

Free-roaming exotic animals previously kept as pets have been documented to survive independently in the wild, which can lead to an increase in invasive species. Invasive species can be any kind of living organism, like mammals, fish, amphibians, plants, insects, fungi, bacteria, or even seeds or eggs, that are not native to an ecosystem and cause harm to the environment, the economy, or even human health.

Research indicates that the pet trade is a major pathway for the introduction of non-native species, with some estimates suggesting that the trade has contributed to the introduction of hundreds of invasive species across the country. For example, in Florida, close to 85% of the known non-native reptiles and amphibians were introduced through the pet trade. The issues that invasive animals cause become more serious in species that can quickly reproduce. Some species of snakes, for example, can lay up to 100 eggs at once.

Invasive Species Disrupt and Harm Ecosystems

The red lionfish in the Caribbean sea and the Burmese python in south Florida are the most renowned examples of disruptive invasive species caused by the pet trade, but non-native chameleons, geckos, alligators, frogs, toads, turtles, tortoises, iguanas, bearded dragons, corn snakes, rat snakes, pythons, and/or boa constrictors have been discovered in both suburban and rural areas in Hawaii, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and California in locations in which exotic pet ownership of these animals was common. Some of these animals are known to have established self-sustaining breeding populations, which can threaten native wildlife by driving these species towards extinction.

Invasive species are estimated to cost the U.S. billions of dollars annually because they out-compete native species for resources, disrupting ecosystems, threatening the existence of native plants and animals, causing agricultural or infrastructural damage, degrading water quality, and increasing human public health and safety concerns. Problematically, approximately 42% of threatened or endangered species are at risk due to invasive species.

The Exotic Pet Trade Is Growing and that Means More Exotic Animals Will Be Let Loose in Nonnative Ecosystems

This problem shows no signs of slowing down; as the popularity of the exotic pet trade continues to increase, so too do the species imported into the U.S. at the highest volumes, which are most likely to already have non-native or invasive populations here. These issues are not isolated within the U.S.; according to a study published in 2019, 70% of invasive mammal species introduced in Brazil over the past three decades were also the result of the pet trade, and escaped exotic pets have been found to be the primary source of new non‐native species of amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds established in the European Union.

You can help us reduce the demand for the exotic pet trade and the countless issues this cruel industry causes for the already fragile ecosystems in the U.S.; do not support pet stores that sell wild animals, do not attend pet expos or live animal auctions that offer wild animals, and if you know someone considering getting an exotic pet, please share our resources with them to help convince them otherwise. Our future depends on it.

Keep Wildlife in the Wild,

Devan