Hong Kong ‘complicit’ in growing exotic pet trade with about 13,400 animals imported into city daily, environmental group warns
- ADM Capital Foundation report reveals illegal trade has ratcheted up risks of species extinction and contributed to ‘extreme’ pressure on hundreds of species worldwide
- City’s demand for animals such as yellow-spotted river turtle, African spurred tortoise and pancake tortoise ‘exacerbate unsustainable pressures on wild populations’
Hong Kong has become the epicentre of the world’s growing live exotic pet trade, an environmental group has warned, with about 13,400 animals imported daily as dealers take advantage of the city’s freewheeling economy to smuggle in rare species.
The ADM Capital Foundation on Wednesday revealed in a report that such illegal trade in Hong Kong had ratcheted up risks of species extinction and contributed to “extreme” pressure on hundreds of species worldwide.
“We are complicit in being involved in what are potentially extinction-level events because of our demand for the pets,” said Paul Crow, a senior conservation officer at conservation group Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden, in response to the report. “It’s very sad that Hong Kong has actually caused this problem.”
Crow added such illicit trade included animal species that had not been scientifically documented and some populations that were considered extinct in the wild.
According to the report, as many as 24.4 million live terrestrial exotic animals were imported into Hong Kong between 2015 and 2019, of which about 4 million were used for pet trade.
