Imported Animals May Cause Extinction To Thai Wildlife

Bernama 23 May 12;

BANGKOK, May 23 (Bernama) -- The import of foreign animals may affect food sources and habitats of native animals in Thailand, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported quoting an academician as saying.

Panthep Ratanakorn, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science of Bangkok-based Mahidol University, said on Tuesday that native animals in Thailand have become endangered due to Thailand's continual imports of foreign animals over the past several years, namely Japanese tortoises and ornamental fish.

Panthep called for strict control on the import and pointed out that imported foreign animals have seriously taken over food sources and habitats from indigenous animals in Thailand and have also brought epidemics to the country, acknowledging that some native animals cannot tolerate the diseases and become extinct.

The senior veterinarian called for strict control on foreign animals and the active conservation of Thai indigenous animals, which could effectively protect ecological systems in the country, noting that his faculty, in conjunction with private crocodile farms, would breed Siamese crocodiles and release them in the wild to support biodiversity.

Sumet Pujjakan, from Burapha University in the Thai East, said that rapid climate changes and human-caused pollution have affected marine ecological systems, resulting in continual coral bleaching, frequent colour changes of seawater, damages to marine life and migrations of some animals from the Thai waters, urging concerned organisations to reduce pollution in the sea to allow natural rehabilitation and recommending that the conservation of mangrove forests is an effective way to protect marine ecosystems.

-- BERNAMA