Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, United Kingdom.
Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, United Kingdom; RedeFauna, Rede de Pesquisa Em Diversidade, Conservação e Uso da Fauna da Amazônia, Brazil.
Toxicon. 2021 Apr 15;193:48-54. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2021.01.010. Epub 2021 Jan 23.
Greater access to the Internet has boosted the online pet trade and especially enabled the trade in niche-targeted groups, such as venomous species. Despite their fearsome reputation, an array of venomous animals, such as snakes, spiders and scorpions arise interest among pet hobbyists, which exposes owners, sellers, and others involved in their transport and maintenance to potentially serious accidents by envenomation. To assess the potential risk to human health posed by the trade and ownership of venomous pet snakes, we examined social media posts trading or portraying native and exotic venomous species as pets (Facebook™ and YouTube™) and official seizures in Brazil between 2015 and 2020. In addition, we recorded all venomous snakebite events occurring in the country during the same period from the Brazilian Ministry of Health database. We compiled 114,931 venomous snakebite events resulting in over 600 human deaths. Bothrops spp. and Crotalus spp. were responsible for 86% and 10% of these events. We recorded 241 individual venomous snakes kept as pets of at least 16 species (seven native and nine non-native). The taxa with higher numbers of snakebites were also those most often kept as pets. Venomous pet snakes were sold at low prices, US$ 71.70 ± 18.44 on average. Our findings highlight a dangerous market, given the similarity of taxa raised as pets and those causing snakebites, combined with low availability of anti-venom for exotic species in Brazil. Additionally, several of the venomous pet snakes recorded are invasive species in many countries. Trade in venomous snakes is prohibited in Brazil, but the law is not well-enforced. To curb this illegal market and discourage consumer demand, we suggest that tougher penalties for sellers and owners should be considered, along with the development of awareness campaigns on the consequences of the snakebite injuries and the lack of antivenoms.
互联网的普及促进了线上宠物交易的发展，尤其是一些小众目标群体的宠物交易，如有毒物种。尽管这些动物具有可怕的名声，但一系列有毒动物，如蛇、蜘蛛和蝎子，引起了宠物爱好者的兴趣，这使动物的主人、卖家和其他参与其运输和饲养的人面临潜在的严重毒液伤害事故。为了评估有毒宠物蛇交易和拥有对人类健康的潜在风险，我们检查了 2015 年至 2020 年期间巴西社交媒体上关于本地和外来有毒物种作为宠物交易或展示的帖子（Facebook™和 YouTube™）以及官方缉获情况。此外，我们还从巴西卫生部数据库中记录了同期该国发生的所有毒蛇咬伤事件。我们共汇编了 114931 起导致 600 多人死亡的毒蛇咬伤事件。Bothrops spp.和 Crotalus spp.分别占这些事件的 86%和 10%。我们记录了 241 条至少 16 个品种的宠物毒蛇（7 个本地品种和 9 个非本地品种）。发生蛇咬伤事件较多的物种也是最常被当作宠物饲养的物种。这些宠物毒蛇的售价很低，平均为 71.70 美元±18.44 美元。我们的研究结果表明，鉴于作为宠物饲养的物种与导致蛇咬伤的物种相似，再加上巴西对进口蛇毒的供应不足，这是一个危险的市场。此外，所记录的一些宠物毒蛇是许多国家的入侵物种。巴西禁止交易有毒蛇，但该法律执行不力。为了遏制这一非法市场并抑制消费者需求，我们建议对卖家和所有者采取更严厉的惩罚措施，并开展关于蛇咬伤后果和缺乏抗蛇毒血清的宣传活动。
