My publications and reports, each linked with accompanying PDFs, preprints, and/or news pieces. See my CV for full list of publications and see here for my Research Themes.
Written by Oliver C. Stringham
The internet is a vast source of wildlife trade data. Here, we present an accessible guide for Internet‐based wildlife trade surveillance, which uses a repeatable and systematic method to automate data collection from relevant websites. Our guide is adaptable to the multitude of trade‐based contexts including different focal taxa or derived parts, and locations of interest.
We provide comments to The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment on their ‘Import risk review for psittacine birds from all countries’ draft report. Due to serious key omissions, we do not support the import of psittacine birds based on the evidence provided in the risk review. The report does not provide sufficient transparency, nor evidence-based assessments of all benefits, risks, or associated costs, of allowing the import of psittacine birds. If the Department wishes to pursue this assessment, then future risk reviews must include the associated costs of facilitating new invasive species, and provide justification on the broader societal benefits of allowing import of psittacine birds. It is our professional scientific opinion that the benefits of importing psittacine birds are outweighed by the significant damages caused by the potential introduction of new invasive species.
The live pet trade is a major pathways for invasive species. Australia imposes tough regulations against the trade of non-native animals as pets. However, there exists an illegal trade of these animals in Australia that threatens biosecurity. Here, we used government records of enquiries from the general public to assess the characteristics of species that are likely desired as pets. We found that desired species are more likely to invasive species elsewhere or at risk of extinction due to trade. Our findings suggest that in absence of strict laws, an unregulated pet trade would threaten Australian biosecurity and global conservation efforts.
Illegal wildlife trade (IWT) directly threatens tens of thousands of species. It is critical that it is taken seriously in order to safeguard our environmental assets and provide resilient landscapes for our unique flora and fauna. Here, we provide an infographic of IWT including: what it is, how bad is it, why can’t we stop it, and solutions.
The exotic pet trade is a multi-billion dollar industry involving thousands of animal species. Research has historically focused only the conservation and disease risks, however the risk of pets becoming invasive species has been overlooked. We show this trade is now the leading contributor of non-native establishments and invasions worldwide among vertebrates. We highlight areas of future research/policy changes needed to avoid more invasive pets in the future.