VietNamNet Bridge – It is now a growing tendency among the youth to breed original reptiles. Meanwhile, scientists have warned that these are hazardous alien animals.

The animals with bright color and original appearance of different kinds have become the pets of many teenagers. They could be salamanders, spiders, turtles, snakes or scorpions.

NM Khoi, a student, said that young people nowadays do not like dogs, cats or rabbits any more.

“It is now in vogue to breed salamanders, Tarantula spiders, colorful Honduran snake, or black scorpion. The animals have many different colors and special appearance, therefore, they have been a favorite by teenagers,” Khoi said.

“If you have the animal, you would become stylish and differential from others, because no other would have similar pets,” he explained.

The “original animals” as described by Khoi, are not too expensive. One just has to pay VND50,000—300,000 to have a black scorpion, spiders are priced at between VND150,000 and VND170,000.

Meanwhile, Honduras snakes prove to be more expensive, priced at over one million dong for each. Especially, the ones with special shape and appearance, introduced as the imports from many different countries in the world, mostly from Thailand, have been selling at several million dong.

People think that it is safe to breed the import animals, because they do not bite or eat other animals. However, scientists said the imports with unclear origin could be the very dangerous alien animals.

According to Dr. Pham Quang Thu from the Vietnam Forestry Institute, said exotic species may encroach the habitat of native species or harm them, cause ecological imbalance in the places where they appear and develop.

Thu said the “invading” species may harm native species by scrambling for food and hinder the natural regeneration of domestic plant species due to their capability of growing rapidly. Exotic species may step by step kill native species, degrade them.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, exotic species are considered one of the most dangerous threats to domestic species among the reasons that cause biodiversity loss.

Once put into the environment, the exotic species develop very rapidly, which may damage the local ecological balance one day.

In the past, a lot of species were imported for economic, scientific purposes. However, later, due to the loss of management, the invaded species developed uncontrollably and became hazardous exotic species.

In Vietnam, yellow snails once became the threat to the rice fields in nearly all areas of Vietnam, from Mekong Delta to central and northern provinces.

Red ear turtles also once penetrated Vietnam. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified red ear turtles to the list of 100 most dangerous invasive alien world. This species also carry Salmonella - bacteria that cause typhoid fever in humans.

Scientists, while warning about the high possible risks of alien species, said that in many cases, the evils of caused by the species can be found only after a long “delitescence period.”

They also said that preventing hazardous alien species from entering Vietnam should be the top priority task. Once the species penetrate Vietnam, they would develop very strongly, which would need big sums of money to be dealt with.

On December 17, 2012, the Prime Minister released a decision approving the plan on preventing and controlling hazardous alien species by 2020.

NLD