[font=&]I really would like to point something out. Over the past few thousand years people have studied Ants & Insects and it is due to their interest and time spent making observations and recordings of what they have seen & discovered, we are talking back to the time of the Greeks and beyond.

[font=&]If mankind had not had such an interest we would not have built up such knowledge as we have today, so many insects that exist on our planet and also the environments that they live in.

[font=&]You do not have to wait 5 or 10 years to see... this is nonsense.

[font=&]Most Ant species were being taken from their natural habitats in the 1950s, 60s and 1970s.

[font=&]They were destined firstly to hundreds of Universities for studies in zoology, entomology departments. Who came up with all kinds of ways trail & error to keep them alive and watch them breed? Ant Species also went to zoos as live working colonies.

[font=&]This was before USA had all the paperwork and systems in place for preventing Ant species movements. The European countries did not work close together and there were few if any import bands.

[font=&]This was before the computer data systems, before close working relationships of Government Animal departments, before customs / trade/ import / export processes. And what there was was very few restrictions put in place, and these had very little working teeth to implement.

[font=&]So the idea and argument lets wait 5 - 10 years has already passed.

[font=&]Those species that have caused such problems that you refer too, having an impact, were the Unknown Species of ant pulled from the hat so many years ago.

[font=&]Like the Rabbits in Australia, No one knew that they were going to breed just like that and so quickly.

[font=&]Today we are in the 21st Century and while there are still many unknown things about the animal world.

[font=&]Today we have much more of a certainty how thing behave, will react, and how to keep animals alive and to get them to thrive.

[font=&]So the idea we need to wait 5 - 10 more years to see is pure folly

[font=&].

[font=&]Bullets Ants, I think anyone offering these for sale is totally irresponsible, The buyer should have a dangerous species licence to start with, approve by there own countries department in that area. The seller should also have these documents.

[font=&]So I think its very fare to people, science communities already know by and large what impact different species have in different environments and countries. The only arguments are just how small or big those impacts will be.

[font=&]That's why animals and species are already on list that bans them from being imported into different countries.

[font=&]The EU allows trade & imports of so many Ant species because basically they are save and the impact is so small.

[font=&]The US has formed different opinions, but the US has such a wide range of different climate factors to consider, deserts, sub-tropics, temperate and cold. These climate factors are wider than Europe. So the impact is not small but larger, a higher risk. The risk assessment is different for this reason.

[font=&]Also the countries that are close to the US are different from those close to Europe.

[font=&]You have climates of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, these are close to the US and ease of tourism & trade.

[font=&]So really since the 1950s these queen ants / Species have been entering your countries, worse still they were kept and the colonies grew because those people keeping them were highly skilled educated, science people. Who were able to look after them better then amateurs and had the funding for expensive setups to keep them in. Who do you think wrote all those ant books and University papers on so many native and exotic species?

[font=&]So I do not think there much to make your different arguments on the subject of

[font=&]

[font=&]Consequences of rearing of exotic ant species.

[font=&]How ever Antdude

[font=&]it is a really good topic for people to discuss, because from discussion people will learn and inform others. I think you are by & large responsible people and well able to keep and look after exotic species [/font]

[font=&]For every argument made by

[font=&]Dr. Buschinger

[font=&]there are counter augments made just as interesting and scientifically based. He is only making his point of View. We can come up with all sorts of facts.

[font=&]Fact the more money thrown, or spent on an argument the more you can improve the argument.

[font=&]For an example Smoking... in the 1950s and up to the 1980s, Tobacco firms poured billions of dollars on getting science to argue how smoking was not bad for your health.... Until since the 1980s the science communities have gone against this logic no matter how much more money was thrown at them.

[font=&]If a University was to offer me 100,000 dollars I think I could spend my time developing good science logic and form statistics to support Dr Buschingers claims.

[font=&]However give me 200,000 dollars and I think I could find good sound and working logic to argue his claims are now out dated. That we can put in place and implement ways that people can collect and trade in say Ant species, with out putting natural environments at risk. This would also include complete bans because some environments are too fragile and need special protection.