{"id":760909,"date":"2020-07-09T07:31:19","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T11:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=760909"},"modified":"2020-07-09T07:34:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T11:34:27","slug":"investigation-a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-texas-exotic-animal-ranches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=760909","title":{"rendered":"INVESTIGATION: A behind-the-scenes look at Texas\u2019 ‘exotic’ animal ranches"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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In Texas, exotic species such as zebras are classified as livestock. 'You can hunt them day or night, no bag limits, no seasons', says John Silovsky of the Texas Parks and Wildlife.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

DOUGLAS MAIN:<\/strong> Wildlife Partners is one of Texas\u2019 newest and largest exotic wildlife ranching companies. It specializes in raising, buying, selling, and transporting hoofed animals, from oryxes to zebras to Cape buffalo. These animals \u201care good as $100 bills,\u201d Gilroy says. But that\u2019s understating it a bit. One adult female Cape buffalo or giraffe could sell for $200,000, while a pair could fetch $250,000.<\/p>\n

This ranch is just one of thousands throughout Texas that raises exotic hoofed animals, also known as hoofstock or ungulates. There are more than a million non-native hoofstock across the state, belonging to 125 different species, according to Charly Seale, head of Texas-based Exotic Wildlife Association, an industry group with some 5,000 ranchers as members. The industry brings in $2 billion in revenue annually, he says.<\/p>\n

As with domestic cattle operations, owners make money by raising and selling the animals\u2014to each other, to wealthy landowners who enjoy owning the creatures, and to commercial hunting operations, where customers can put up large fees to shoot rare, exotic animals without traveling abroad. (Read more about sport hunting here.)<\/p>\n

Wildlife Partners, like many exotic game ranches, is not a commercial hunting ranch. Its revenue comes from breeding, buying, and selling animals. Some of those creatures, however, do end up on hunting ranches. But the bulk of the industry, Gilroy says, is made up of private citizens who don\u2019t offer commercial hunts. “Owning exotic wildlife gives landowners a sense of pride,\u201d Gilroy says, as well as status…<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 exotic game animals aren\u2019t domesticated and often don\u2019t require much hands-on care, but neither are they truly wild. Unlike native white-tailed deer, elk, and bighorn sheep, they\u2019re not legally classified as game\u2014even though they\u2019re often hunted. Instead, like domestic livestock and pets, they\u2019re considered private property.<\/p>\n

Some of the species on these ranches are threatened, endangered, or even extinct in the wild, like the scimitar-horned oryx. But these and almost all exotic hoof-stock species on Texas ranches can be hunted legally because most aren\u2019t on the U.S. Endangered Species Act list, which focuses primarily on the protection of native species. Under Texas law, exotic species are classified as \u201clivestock,\u201d so while the owners must adhere to certain animal health requirements, there\u2019s little regulation beyond that…<\/p>\n

You can hunt them \u201cday or night,\u201d says John Silovsky, deputy director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. \u201cNo bag limits, no seasons.\u201d This legal landscape, combined with Texas\u2019 famously independent character, its emphasis on private property rights, vast open spaces, and warm climate, have created the perfect recipe for exotic game ranching. SOURCE…<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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