The exotic pet trade poses a significant threat to many species worldwide due to unsustainable capture of live animals.
Ball pythons are a popular pet in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia, with traded individuals being supplied both from captive breeding and wild populations in west Africa.
WildCRU researchers worked with World Animal Protection to explore the supply of ball pythons from the perspective of collectors and farmers in Togo and Benin, and to quantify global trade patterns of this species. In 2023 their findings highlighting the extent of trade and suggestion of wild population decline contributed to EU trade decisions and the CITES trade review processes. The EU Scientific Review Group issued a “negative opinion” for the export of ranched specimens of ball pythons from Benin and Togo, meaning that imports into the EU are suspended until evidence is provided that they will not have a harmful effect on the conservation status of the species.
This work demonstrates the invaluable role of research in informing local and international policy to protect biodiversity.