I believe they are still being poached(Zebras).
A friend saw a large station and they had hunrdeds, this was several months ago. They claimed they where breeding them and exporting them.
I'm not so sure.............
It's like the Panda, a good pretty little environmental poster fish.
So it's a high profile Xingu fish. And not a bad idea.
They are breedable anyway and that forces folks to seek other more agriculture/aquaculture methods. They have been bred since at least the mid 1990's and likely before. Local folks here tried to sell me a bred colony for 500$ of 9 fish. Good deal today
Same with this pretty little fish, breed the suckers!!!
We heard similar stories about the Rose lines as well in India etc.
The market creates a demand for $ and then folks get smart and start realizing it's easier to farm these things than collect from the wild.
These fish and Zebras ought to be farmed.
There's a strong market for that.
But I think more needs to be done locally where wild fish are from.
Wetland loss is extremely problematic.
That's why these boycott issues are joke, they are short sighted. I do like to see folks try to help and save things like this, but try to think further.
They focus merely on one single species, one issue, rather than addressing the entire wetland water shed. That protects the functional ecosystem unit, and
all the critters, not just the poster fish that you personally identify with.
That single species focus in old school environmental management, it's being replaced by a better broader integrated approach.
There are many benefits to preservation of a wetland and these fish. Less mosquitos, malaria, West Nile, other human diseases, better habitat for native species other than these fish, better habitat for locals, more $ for local economy, fun place for folks and kids to go, play etc.
Better cleaner water etc.
Saving ecosystem water sheds is the best approach, as the ecosystems are linked and interwoven, each species plays a role and there are many indirect effects each species has on another.
Trying to piece meal them apart is very difficult, even if the managers have a single species end point focus. So boycotting a species might help a little, but if they bull doze the area, add a house, dump sewer water in there etc, then that does not matter.
So it's best to address the entire system rather than one fish species from poaching.
Worst than poaching: habitat loss. That is what is the world's greatest threat to natural systems is. Next? Invasive species.
I hate poaching as much as the next person, and it's hard to stop but we do have parks, preserves and such for these reasons.
If you are passionate about it, try focusing on saving this wetland and then try doing things locally to save your own wetlands.
CA has lost 96% of it's wetlands in the last 100 years :icon_frow
Regards,
Tom Barr