I think this is what they wore trying to bring across.

Quoted from there video information.
"We take a look at the Exotic pet trade in South Africa.
What are the dangers to humans and the environment?"

So with all the comments made and people wondering what they wore actually trying to make the point on, so this is the reply I got.
So they are more activists.

"Hello Jake,

please allow me to answer to your letter, seeing that I am the first person at the email this morning...

The point we were trying to make with the story is simply that we have an industry which literally exploded over the past few years in terms of growth, and which is totally underregulated both in terms of legislation and also in terms of enforcing existing legislation.

Because of this the industry poses a very real risk to biodiversity in South Africa and in other countries with even less controls in place than we have.
It also poses a risk to the health of people in South Africa (people getting bitten by venomous animals and also picking up foreign diseases).
Then there is the matter of the pet animals themselves - I don't believe that it is only at the expo's where the animals are kept under cruel circumstances - I have personally been to a number of pet shops where the display facilities are, to say the least, less than desirable.
Cruelty to these animals also constitutes factors beyond the size of their cages - the mere fact that a non-domesticated animal is kept under conditions where he cannot hunt/gather his own food, mate and breed as he would in nature or even pick out his own territory and live according to his instinctive need for a certain range area, are all problematic.
We also never claimed that all animals were brought from the wild, but a huge number of them are.
Likewise we never claimed that all exotic pet owners are cruel to their animals or are smugglers, but the fact is that many of them are, and that a number of current practises are only possible because of lack of self regulation and absence of proper legislation.
All the people we interviewed, including the department of Environmental Affairs, the EWT and the NSPCA agreed that ideally the industry should be closed down as a whole, because the problem has gotten out of hand. If we look at the number of exotic pets either escaping or wilfully being set free in the wild currently, it is only a matter of time before some of these species establish themselves and gain invader-status in our country.
In justifying the existence of the industry we unfortunately have to ask at what cost it comes to the animals themselves, the environment and the people of our country - and as it stands, the answer to that seems quite straightforward.


Thank you for writing.

Johann Botha
Executive Producer: Projek Aardwolf"

Can you please add this response to the facebook thread as well?

Thanks

Thanks for taking the time to write them and Johann for taking the time to reply.

Like I said in my other post on this topic. I agree, the interviews in the episode expose a very definite problem.

The comments by the presenters of the show, in contrast, tarnishes the whole in offensive hypocritical bunny-hugging fluff.

Fun for Facebookers:

www.facebook.com/ProjekAardwolf

I think Johann meant well, but he should have appointed someone other than that horrible hypocritical cow that doesn't wear a seatbelt

EDIT: Sorry, posted the wrong link

Thanks Spunky for the link!

found this reply on their status on their page very intresting...

Post by Arno Naude:

"Okay just some facts to back up on what I said about the lies on the program.
Fact 1 You did not have to sneak your cameras into the expo as your huge tripod with a camera on it is clear to see in your footage on two occasions. You used two camears which are plain to see.
Fact 2 There are no Fossas in private hands in South Africa, and imports were stopped many years ago.
Fact 3 Tigers are provided the highest protection by CITES since 1986 and cannot be imported by private individuals, Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction. Trade in specimens of these species is permitted only in exceptional circumstances. This may be issued only if the specimen is not to be used for primarily commercial purposes and if the import will be for purposes that are not detrimental to the survival of the species. So you will not be going to pick your tiger up from OR Tambo on your way to Hillbrow.
Fact 4 Mealworms and insects are not protected by the Animal Protection Act and thus may be fed live. Many animals will not eat dead foods.
Fact 5 Johannesburg zoo has no record of "hundreds" of monkeys that have been brought in and have had to be euthanised,
Fact 6 Reptiles require keeping permits in EC, WC and NC provinces. Every province has a list of potentially alien invasive species which may not be kept by private individuals.
Fact 7 Permits are required for the import of any reptile into every province in South Africa.
Fact 8 Monkeys from "Congo" are quarantined and blood tests are performed before and after the shipment and to date no private individual has been allowed to import primates into SA from the Congo.
Fact 9 There were not hedgehogs at the expo those are tenrecs which are not even related to hedgehogs.
Fact 10 The cages you showed the snakes in are not permanent cages but display cages for the day.
Fact 11 Not a single person has died from an exotic snake bite in SA.
Fact 12 The permit system was implemented to stop the rampant export of indigenous reptiles, not the local pet trade. This was after a huge shipment was intercepted at Jan Smuts airport.
Fact 13 KZN does not have a permit system for most indigenous reptiles so it is not illegal to keep all indigenous animals as you said.
Fact 14 You assume the snake are kept in "small cages" although you have no idea how they are kept. Reptiles that are stressed refuse to reproduce so there would be no babies to continue the hobby with.
Fact 15 Its not just "little boys" that keep reptiles. Some of the reptiles at the expo cost in excess of R100 000-00 a pair so "klein Jannie" could never afford them.
Fact 16 They are not "vreesbevange" because they would bite and try get away if they were scared.
Fact 17 There were no bush babies for sale at the expo because they are indigenous and that would have been illegal.
Fact 18 South Africa is one of the biggest EXPORTERS of marmosets as we breed the rare ones and they are not imported from South America. Most of the rare marmosets in captivity in SA are on a studbook which means they are regulated internationally to retain genetic diversity for conservation purposes.
Fact 19 Every single chameleon sold in SA is captive bred locally and imports from the wild have never been allowed.
Fact 20 White lipped vipers eat baby mice and not birds. I have raised over 400 of them and a baby is 9cm long so no bird is small enough for them. The pet shop was wrong to sell it but today no pet shop is allowed to sell a venomous snake to a minor in accordance with the consumer protection act. This woman is talking about historic events and not current events.
Fact 21 The only zoonotic disease you can easily get from reptiles in salmonella which is easier to get from eggs, tomatoes and peanuts. The biggest outbreaks world wide have been from the agriculture industry.
Fact 22 You say "Niemand gaan jou vertel nie" but the Pet Traders association and the reptiles clubs have husbandry courses that you can attend to learn about what reptiles need.
Fact 23 You repeat that you are not allowed to feed meal worms which is not true. Go see the definitions in act 71 of 1962 "animals" means any equine, bovine, sheep, goat, pig, fowl, ostrich, dog, cat, or other domestic animal or bird, or any wild animal, wild animal, wild bird or reptile.
Fact 24 Tigers do not eat meal worms or white mice so dont bother breeding that.
Fact 25 No snake has established themselves anywhere in SA as a result of unwanted pets.
Fact 26 The Bioviversity act makes it an offense to release any alien species in South Africa so no rattlesnake will end up in Namaqualand or Zululand unless criminal activity is involved.
Fact 26 Most of the stick insects bred for the pet trade eat invasive plants like eucalyptus, mulberry, roses and other plants.
Fact 27 I have personally trained Nature Conservation officials to distinguish the difference between Gaboon Vipers and Rhino vipers (the West African subspecies you refer to is now a full species and called a Rhino viper) as it is simple to do and there is no threat there. If you can count to two then its easy. One has one stripe under the eye and the other has two. It is not difficult." ... shortend