I agree with all the previous except Jay. However, you need to do some research. The IUCN is an international organization. IT DOES NOT HAVE LEGAL POWER OVER YOU. ONLY YOUR GOVERNMENT HAS SUCH POWER. So the question is, what was the status of your fish species when you first got it? Was it gotten legally? I could see that there would be federal laws prohibiting the sale of endangered species. Was the fish ever given that designation? Can you prove you got the fish legally?
That's the first steps you need to do. It may turn out you have a perfect right to keep your population, and it would be a good deed to find someone who was working on that species and help protect it.
Second, I'm suspicious you don't have what you think you do. Failure to show us the scientific name is one clue. So you are an ichthyologist that knows the literature and can key out specific species of fish. Right? So you say you have them for 13 years. Really? YOU DO KNOW THEY WEREN'T KNOW TO SCIENCE UNTIL 2007 WHEN THEY WERE NAMED. http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2014/05/200...
No, it won't "forever" be your secret. Someday you and your aquarium will no longer exist, and the burnt-tail barb fish will pass into extinction along with you. Is that the legacy you want to leave to the natural world and the people trying to protect it? I just can't imagine the state of mind of a person who considers his own personal fish collection more important than saving a species believed to be extinct.
That is very selfish of you, you need to tell the IUCN about that so they they can take some away and be put in a larger area for more breeding and more space. That way they can repopulate. Then they will be set free. It is really stupid to keep them for yourself. Something might happen to them and they were the only ones in existence. Listen to me, tell the IUCN.
Don't tell anyone. Take this question off of here, too. You're doing a great job in preserving them. Keep caring for them and breeding them. Keep it your secret. I think that's amazing. Good job!
I recently noticed that the Burnt-tailed Barb fish was recently declared extinct by the IUCN. Well, I've got 19 of them in my 300 gallon aquarium right now, and they breed regularly. In fact, they have been sustaining themselves successfully in my aquarium for 13 years, and breed regularly. I have also given some of the young ones away over the years. I have taken care of these fish for a long time, and believe that they will be taken away from me if I contact the IUCN, or even a local zoo and tell them about them. So, I guess it'll forever be my secret that the final colony of Burnt-tailed Barbs in existence resides in my house. But am I actually breaking the law by keeping it a secret?
