Family Pet Scares Away Would-Be Abductor
After exotic pets are rescued, what next?
Man and pet rescue each other from beast's teeth A pit bull takes a mauling from a bear for his master
Neighbors Say Pet Pigs Pose Problems
Couple fights for their pet pig, Bacon
City's pigeon tradition fades
African grey parrots "under threat"
Coyotes Seeking Pets for Food
Zoo Official Calls For End To Exotic Pet Purchases
Why 'no pets allowed' signs are worth heeding
Fire leaves family homeless, claims pet's life
Coyotes Attacking Suburban Pets
Gator devours pet pooch
Little Boy Keeps 19-Foot Python As Pet + pics 
Why Can't We All Just Get Along?
Pit bull invades home, kills pet, wounds owners
Vicious dogs kill pet and savage man
Offer could be lifesaver for Lewis the ferocious feline
Man ordered to give up pet python
Video: Cougar suspected in pet deer attack
SHELL SHOCK FOR BIN PET
Pet pythons seized from home
Pet pythons get Melbourne man in hot water
Keep Rover home while plovers roam - Protecting threatened shorebirds,
Plovers bump pets from dunes' beaches
Black bear eating pet food on porch in Tennessee is killed by deputy
Boy, 3, Needs Stitches From Peacock Attack
Pet tigers and cougars keep neighbors nervous
Raccoon that attacked pet birds, man in Jupiter was rabid
Pet Projects at New Bolton Center - the blood horse (semi-feral ponies)
Pet Turtle persuaded her it didn't need rescuing
Smith loses pet after horrific three-horse fall
Kentucky family fights to keep pet lion
Family fights to keep pet lion
8-Year-Old Removed From Pet-Infested Home In N.H.
Mountain lion that killed pet will be rehabiliated
Owners awarded $1,300 in death of pet dog killed by python
Pair fined after pet python kills dog
Florida couple fined after pet python squeezes pampered pooch

Hiroshi Masumitsu / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent, YOMIURI ONLINE

About 100 newts of a species first identified in 2002 have been caught in Laos by Japanese pet dealers and sold in Japan, to the alarm of researchers who believe the trade could be endangering the existence of the creature.

The discovery of the Laos Warty Newt, whose Latin name is Paramesotriton laoensis, was announced in a paper written by Bryan Stuart, a researcher of the Field Museum in Chicago, and others in 2002. Since the extent of the newt's habitat is not yet known, no regulations have been established on trade in the amphibian.

Stuart and others discovered the newt in 1999 in northern Laos, with support from Wildlife Conservation Society, a New York-based nature protection organization.

The newt is about 15-20 centimeters long and has a black body with yellow warts or striations. It inhabits stagnant streams that flow in valleys.

According to Stuart, a pet dealer of Ibaraki Prefecture visited the area earlier this year and caught about 100 of the creatures. The dealer brought them back to Japan and started selling them at stores and on the Internet.

Other dealers in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka began selling them as well, touting the salamander as a "very rare species" or a "new arrival." A newt is priced at about 20,000 yen, and a male-female pair sells for about 40,000 yen. One dealer said, "They sold out almost immediately."

Stuart said the detailed description of the newt in his paper, which is necessary to protect the species, ended up popularizing the amphibian as a pet. The paper ended being used in a way that negated its original purpose of protecting the species, he said.

The researchers will soon begin a protection project with the cooperation of the Laotian government.

"I brought back about 100 of the newts because there were lots of them. In fact, local people eat them," the pet dealer in Ibaraki Prefecture said.

The dealer added: "Newly discovered animals don't sell so well because it's difficult to raise them. About 20 or 30 out of 100 were sold. Considering the airfare, selling them for 20,000 yen each won't make us any profit. It's not right to accuse us of catching too many of them to make a quick buck."   (Original Story..)