You love animals and if it were up to you, your home would be Noah’s Ark itself. However, not everything goes and there are living beings that cannot be kept as pets or that have been allowed for a time and now their possession would be illegal, see the African and Egyptian pygmy hedgehogs. Do you know what they are and why these types of measures are carried out? We will tell you.
The Spanish Catalog of Invasive Alien Species includes both animal and plant species that are considered harmful because they put the balance of our country’s ecosystems at risk. There are cases of animals such as raccoons , one of the illegal pets in Spain, which compete for food and territory with native species. Others like the Argentine parrots displace winged species from the land such as sparrows and pigeons. There are also exotic animals that can destroy crops and ruin irrigation systems.
Many of the exotic pets that are now illegal entered our country to be traded. In fact, not so long ago certain pet stores sold raccoons for a price of around 500-600 euros. People, who allowed themselves to be conquered by the look of the stuffed animal with mask of these mammals and took a copy home, ended up not being able to take care of the animal and releasing it in the wild. The released specimens adapted so well to the environment that they reproduced. Today there are about 400 individuals in the Community of Madrid and Guadalajara , becoming a problem for the native fauna.
In addition to the animals that are included in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Alien Species (it can be easily consulted on the Internet), it is illegal to keep one that you find one day walking in the countryside or swimming in the sea, for example. Ultimately, you cannot uproot a living being from its natural habitat, neither more nor less.
Last update of the Invasive Alien Species Catalog
In March 2019, the Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree updating the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Alien Species. The possession, transport, trafficking and trade of Vietnamese pigs , royal pythons, Florida tortoises and savanna monitor lizards is prohibited.
People who have these animals as pets and want to keep them, must report their possession before January 1, 2022 to the competent authorities, who will establish certain requirements such as sterilization, marking and responsible declaration not to release it.
If, on the other hand, the owners do not wish to have them any more, the administrations provide them with spaces to deliver them. Next, we will tell you a little more about some of these illegal pets in our country.
