Categories: PETS

AGFC opens up registration for Axolotl owners who acquired pets before May 2024


Owners of Axolotls have been granted a window by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) ending on June 30 to register these animals as pets .

Axolotls were placed on the AGFC's Prohibited Captive Wildlife Species list on May 16, 2024, but those who acquired their axolotls before this date are allowed to register them through the AGFC's Captive Wildlife Program so that they are able to keep the animals as pets. No more axolotls are allowed to be obtained and kept as pets.

According to AGFC Captive Wildlife Program Coordinator Ashley Grimsley-Padron, exotic pet trade has been on the rise, especially in the U.S., which is one of the largest markets for the trade.

“Most pet owners are responsible, but exotic pets and captive wildlife can bring the risk of disease transmission, public health concerns and possible damage to native species and their habitats,” Grimsley-Padron said. “The AGFC evaluates each species we are aware of in this trade to determine any threats it may pose before permitting the species for importation or breeding and selling in Arkansas.”

Grimsley-Padron has been working with AGFC since the 1930s, helping regulate wild animals. Importation restrictions were placed on some animals in 1957, which was soon followed by a nongame animal breeder permitting process in 1988.

The AGFC began requiring permits for the owning of exotic pets in 2000. With the exotic trade market increasing, the AGFC saw new dangers and diseases that led them to overhaul the captive wildlife regulations in 2019.

AGFC has worked over the past six years to create three categories for captive wildlife so enthusiasts still are able to access animals that are deemed harmless to native wildlife populations. Although some species are still allowed in Arkansas with no restrictions, some require special permits to import, breed, or sell. Others are completely illegal in the state.

“Axolotls have never been authorized as one of Arkansas’s permitted wild species to import,” Grimsley-Padron said.

Some exotic wild animals that are released or escape their owners can cause chaos on native species and their habitats. Some of this chaos is seen in competition and the destruction of habitats. Some introduced species can bring diseases that will kill out native species. Other species are rare, which makes trading them dangers, as it can lead to decreasing numbers. This was seen in the exotic pet bird trade that led to the extinction of the Carolina parakeet.

The axolotl falls under all of these factors, which led to AGFC determining its prohibition as a viable wildlife pet.

Axolotls can only be found naturally in Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco, two lakes in central Mexico. The decrease of the species also presents a threat to native reptile and amphibian reptiles, through the fungus and bacteria they can carry.

“Axolotls inhabit cold freshwater lakes in Mexico, and these habitats are similar to some of our cold-water streams,” AGFC Herpetologist Amanda Bryant said. “If released, they have the potential to hybridize with our native Ambystoma salamanders, and three of these species are listed as species of greatest conservation need in Arkansas.”

The Axolotl presents a great danger for native amphibians.

“Axolotls also are hosts for two highly pathogenic amphibian diseases,” Bryant continued. “Chytrid fungus and ranavirus can both be carried by this species, and these diseases persist in the environment even if the host dies, so they could cause harm to native amphibians even if there’s no direct interaction with an escaped or released Axolotl.”

Grimsley-Padron acknowledges that many owners do not realize the dangers that these pets pose, or even their illegal status.

This is why AGFC has created their registration service so that they can ensure the safety of Arkansas native species and still allow people to continue enjoying the pets they have already acquired.

The service will allow the wildlife program to ensure owners are in compliance, while also giving them the ability to community with pet owners when it is time for proper disposal or removal of the species should it die or the owner choose to not want them anymore.

“We just want everyone who has one to register it at our website no later than June 30, 2025 and please do not release an axolotl or any captive animal into the wild,” Grimsley-Padron said. “Registering axolotls is free. We need to prevent more from coming into the state and prevent any from escaping to the wild.”

To register your pet Axolotl or learn more about the AGFC's Captive Wildlife Program, click here.



Source link

Doggone Well Staff

Recent Posts

Asking Eric: We’ve been listening to new neighbor’s dog bark, night and day, for 6 months

Dear Eric: Six months ago, new neighbors moved onto our street. They fenced in the…

58 minutes ago

Aging dogs may have eye problems. Here’s how to help them. | Entertainment/Life

As pets age, their hearing and vision are often some of the first things to…

2 hours ago

PetSmart Adds European Pet Food Brand Edgard & Cooper

PetSmart is now carrying the Edgard & Cooper brand of pet food. PetSmart is expanding…

2 hours ago

Husky Mama Teaches Her Pup To Howl With An ‘Adorable’ Coaching Session

There’s something magical about a mother’s instinct, and that doesn’t just apply to humans. In…

12 hours ago

Guide Dog To Blind Chihuahua Won’t Give Bunny Back To Her New Mom

Found wandering in the middle of a blizzard, Belle and Winston were a sight that…

13 hours ago

Puppy With A ‘Different’ Limb Awaits Loving Home as He Prepares for Surgery

At just eight weeks old, a pit bull puppy named Sebastian found himself in the…

13 hours ago