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Article: Black market animals: the stealing, smuggling and selling of endangered species as pets is a $10 billion illegal business worldwide.(special report)
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- April 14, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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They have weird names and even weirder looks. The Komodo dragon, for instance, is a 10-foot-long meat-eating lizard from Indonesia. The pigmy marmoset (photo at left) is a tiny, big-eyed, monkeylike creature from South America. The shin gleback skink is a stubby, bumpy skinned lizard from Australia.
What the three animals have in common is that they are all endangered species that bring high prices on the black market in rare animals. People in the United States, Japan, and Europe who want endangered animals as pets are willing to pay up to $50,000 for a Komodo dragon. A pigmy marmoset fetches up to $20,000. A shingleback skink will bring $2,500.
The ...