Tarantula Keeping in East London Eastern Cape

[Spider-man]

I hope somebody knowledgable on this forum will be able to assist me with FACTS when it comes to keeping tarantulas as a hobby in East london. I know the whole story about needing permits in the WC because of their fynbos ect ect ect. I also know that it is illegal to keep South African Species, I am only wanting to get a few pokies and a few avics. All i want to know is the following:

Is it illegal to keep any tarantulas in the Eastern Cape
What are the ramifications of being caught
If you need a permit, where do i get one and how easy is it to get

I am not trying to build up a spider colony here but would like 3 of 4 as display pets. I would also love my kids to learn about them the way I did when i was younger

PS: If you live in East London and have a to to sell please pm me

[ghoti]

Heya,

Best person to speak to is Michael memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=8214

Message him and let him know of this thread. He is nature con in Eastern Cape and pretty much knows everything

[ghoti]

So I met with Michael and another person from nature conservation called Ricky today.

I put your question forward for them.. this is what they said:

They said there is no specific rule about you cant keep tarantulas in the eastern cape. So you cant go anywhere and find a law that says "though shall not keepeth big spiders" or anything like that.

There is however a law that any exotic animal that we have, has to be permitted... and they dont permit tarantulas. This is not to say that this law will be like this forever. For them to permit an animal they have to do several studies. Basically you need to get a specialist in the spider field to do research and you need to prove 2 things:

1) The animal must die if it escapes. It must not be able to survive in the wild here in SA
2) That if it escapes it wont impact the local ecology. LIke if it was to escape and make a species of super spiders or kill off one of the local species.

The person who does the research has to be an academic in the field and not involved in exotic animals trade. A typical study like this can cost in the region of R250 000.

Hope that answers most of your questions.

[Bushviper]

I know Ian Engelbrecht used to work for Gauteng Nature Conservation and is now working at the University of Pretoria. He would be my first port of call. I will try to find an email address for you. I have sent him a message.

[ghoti]

Im actually arachnophobic. hehe, but I would love my arachnid loving friends to keep their spiders legally. It would be really cool if an academic decides to tackle a project like this. Perhaps a university student or two and turn this type of research into thesis`s.