From the News: Florida FWC votes to ban ‘high-risk’ reptiles

 Florida FWC votes to ban ‘high-risk’ reptiles

Rules for owning reptiles and other exotic pets vary widely from state to state.  Some are highly regulated.  In others, anything goes.  Florida, to my surprise (I mean, how many "Florida Man" stories are there?), is actually towards the stricter end of the spectrum.  Part of the reason for concern is climatic.  When exotic pet reptiles are released in, say, Nebraska, the problem will probably take care of itself by winter.  Bad for the individual animal that suffers, of course, but at least an invasive species doesn't get the chance to establish itself in the wild.  With southern Florida's subtropical climate, reptiles from South America, Africa, or Asia can thrive.  Just recently, yet another potential new invasive - the Central American milk snake - was found in the state.

FWC (the same entity that regulates Florida's zoos and aquariums, as well as the movement of zoo animals in and out of the state) is implementing a ban on sixteen species of reptile (some of them fairly common in zoos) that it deems high risk of becoming invasive, or that are already considered invasive, such as the Burmese python.  Whether more are added to the list remains to be seen.  Hobbyists and herp pet owners are outraged, not only for what they stand to loose, but for the potential slippery slope.   They can look no further (well, actually, it is pretty far) than New Zealand, where the island nation doesn't have a single snake on its shores.  Not even in a zoo.