Quote:
Originally Posted by skylsdale
Just to include another dynamic to the discussion, I think it's important to realize that not every decision has to be made on the basis of conservation (and this is coming from someone who is a strong advocate of conservation). For many people this will never be anything more than simply enjoying some tropical frogs in a tank in their living rooms, and that's okay. For these same people, simply having and enjoying an auratus that originated from somewhere in Costa Rica is enough, so we have to realize that there is still value to the non-site-specific animals already in the hobby.
Some thoughts...
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Having non site-specific frogs in the hobby in ways helps to conserve some of the wild populations. Take your average keeper who just wants the pretty frog in a vivarium. He's not going to care which locality his animal is from as long as it's pretty. Keeping a steady supply of these animals in the hobby through captive breeding helps to ease the losses by beginners working with wild caught animals and allows the more dedicated hobbyist to work with the site-specific animals. In many ways this could also lessen the demand for wild frogs being imported over time. It would really be a shame to see people perceive "green and black" auratus as a devalued animal and lose it in the hobby because of a lack of site data.
