Tarantulas: Conservation

Summary:  Even tarantulas need a little love! Many species of tarantulas are disappearing and in this episode Kiersten talk about what’s happening and what we’re doing to help.

 

For my hearing impaired listeners, a complete transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

 

Show Notes: 

The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery

“Farewell to the World’s Smallest Tarantula?” By Jane Schneider https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2017/Oct-Nov/Conservation/Spruce-Fir-Moss_Spider

“Beautiful Ornamental Tarantulas Win Global Protections from Pet Trade.” https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/beautiful-ornamental-tarantulas-win-global-protections-pet-trade-2019-08-26/

 

Conservation Organizations to check out:

Butterfly Pavillion in Colorado - https://butterflies.org/spider-conservation-research/

 

Commission for Environmental Cooperation - www.cec.org

Tarantulas de Mexico - https://www.tarantulasdemexico.com

iNaturalist app can be downloaded from any app store

 

Transcript

(Piano music plays)

Kiersten - This is Ten Things I Like About…a ten minute, ten episode podcast about unknown or misunderstood wildlife.

(Piano music stops)

Kiersten - Welcome to Ten Things I Like About… I’m Kiersten, your host, and this is a podcast about misunderstood or unknown creatures in nature. Some we’ll find right out side our doors and some are continents away but all are fascinating. 

This podcast will focus ten, ten minute episodes on different animals and their amazing characteristics. Please join me on this extraordinary journey, you won’t regret it.

This episode is the tenth and final episode of tarantulas and the tenth thing I like about these hairy beauties is the conservation efforts being done to ensure we never lose them.

Now it may not seem like tarantulas need conservation efforts but many of them are impacted by habitat loss, the pet trade, and souvenir trinkets. In this episode we’re going to take a look at some of these threats and what we’re doing to help.

When discussing any animal conservation issue, habitat loss is often one of the main problems. There are a lot of us creatures on this planet and we need to get much better at sharing it with all living things. One example of a tarantula impacted by habitat loss is the spruce-fir moss spider, the smallest tarantula in the world. This tiny BB-pellet sized tarantula is found in only a few isolated pockets of the Southern Appalachian mountains. They used to be commonly found all over Clingmans Dome, a mountain straddling North Carolina and Tennessee, but they have become more and more difficult to find. Biology Professor Kefyn Catley says in 1987 he could find them all over the rocks at Clingmans Dome but in 2017 they were none to be found.

These small tarantulas live at high elevations typically above 5300 feet above sea level in moss that clings to boulders. The moss grows in mats which creates a microclimate that provides warmth, moisture, and food that the tarantula needs to survive. If the moss dries out, the spider cannot survive. This is exactly what’s plaguing the spruce-moss tarantulas of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Invasive insects have invaded the park and are decimating the native trees that provide shade and moisture which keeps the moss growing. The loss of these trees has also increased the temperatures of this ecosystem. This is bad news for our little friend. 

The tarantulas are trying to find new habitat by moving to north-facing rocks that still harbor the moss mats they need, but these refuges are also quickly disappearing.  So what are we doing to help? First we’re still studying this little arachnid. Biologists from Western Carolina University and Great Smoky Mountain National Park forestry biologists are continuing their studies of this tarantula. We must know more about their natural history and their current population numbers if we are to help them survive. 

The second action we’ve taken is to add the spruce-moss tarantula to the Endangered Species List. In 1995, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added this tarantula to the endangered species list making it only the third spider to be added to the list. Doing this provided scientists leverage to take steps toward protecting the habitat in which the tarantula lives. Once this was done, a third action was approved which was the targeted eradication of the invasive insect eating the trees in the park. Now, spraying insecticide around can impact more than just the insect you want to kill and the scientists knew this, so with the help of park services, they devised a plan that targeted the invasive insect with as little impact to others as possible. This is an ongoing project and I know I have my fingers crossed that the spruce-fir moss tarantula survives for years to come.

For those of us that are fans of the great outdoors, we know that habitat loss is something that is a problem on every continent and in every environment. Hundreds of different animals are impacted by it everyday. Tarantulas are no exception and what is happening to the spruce-moss spider is happening to many species of tarantulas all over the world. As tropical forests are cut down to make room for cattle, as wooded areas are logged for use in construction, and as desert is torn up to provide housing for more and more humans, the tarantulas are losing their homes. What we must learn is how to share our space with them and make sure when we move in they don’t have to move out.

The other major threat to tarantulas is the pet trade. Those of you who may be listening to this series to help get over your fear of tarantulas are probably thinking ‘who in their right mind would have a tarantula as a pet?’. Well, I can’t attest to the ‘right-mind’ part, but tarantulas can actually be pretty cool pets. They are certainly not for everyone and they do need specialized care that you must be willing to take the time to give them, but they can be a very rewarding pet. As I’ve said before, I had a rose-haired tarantula for 12 years. She hung out in an aquarium with coconut fiber substrate, a water dish, a hidey hole, and furniture that we’d rotate to give her something new to investigate. We did not handle her much, only every once in a while when we needed to deep clean her enclosure, even though she was very even tempered. Tarantulas don’t really like to be handled.

Sorry for that slight detour there, I really loved Rosy, but let’s get back to the pet trade.

For many years the pet trade has been taking its toll on the wild population of tarantulas. We first saw it in the desert areas of Mexico where the red-kneed tarantulas are found. These beautiful red, orange, and black tarantulas have been favorites of pet owners for years. It’s fairly easy to catch these burrowing tarantulas by fooling the females out of they burrow with a fake prey item  on a string, kinda like fishing. During breeding seasons all you have to do is scoop up the males that are wandering around looking for a mate. The desert used to be covered in these tarantulas and people didn’t think collecting them from the wild was a big deal. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, what would it hurt if we took a few?

It hurt a lot because the mature adults were being harvested for the pet trade removing those that could repopulate the area. And it takes many years for these spiders to reach reproductive age, like 8 to 10 years. 

The same thing is now happening to newly discovered tarantula species like the beautiful blue tarantulas of Sri Lanka and India. These are arboreal spiders that have proven incredibly popular with tarantula enthusiasts because of their bright, gorgeous colors. They are incredibly difficult to breed in captivity; therefore, people who are interested in nothing but making money off of nature, collect from the wild to sell them to an eager market.  

So what are we doing? Reluctantly not enough, because part of the problem is that we don’t have an accurate count of the population numbers of most tarantulas in the wild. Scientists all over the world are trying to fix this by beginning studies to count tarantulas year after year to try and get a baseline to help develop conservation guidelines. 

Another regrettable problem that impacts tarantula populations in the wild is that trade in many species is legal because there are no regulations. Trade in some species is illegal but not many. We are combatting this through CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species which has ratified a treaty approved by 183 countries to regulate tarantulas in the Poecilotheria family. This is the family that includes our bright, blue friends. This was passed in 2019, and trade still continues in these species but permits are now needed and shipments are inspected at customs. This is step toward protecting them, a small step but these regulations combined with the population studies researchers are conducting can lead to stronger protections. 

The last major threat to tarantulas is souvenir shops. This may sound silly but this is one of the number one reasons bird-eating spider populations are dwindling. Tourists visiting the home of the bird-eating tarantulas can find these awe-inspiring spiders mounted under glass or plastic for sale in souvenir shops. They are beautiful and look awesome hanging on your wall but we have to remember that these were living creatures that were roaming the jungle just days before. Taking them out of the web of life to hang them on your wall is not something that should be okay. A picture is worth a thousand words and can save a tarantulas life.

Now, my listeners, what can you yourselves do to help your eight-legged friends? Many things. For one, if you want to purchase a tarantula for your own enjoyment at home, make sure you are buying a captive bred tarantula. Ask the breeders where they get their tarantulas, ask to see proof of their breeding facilities, and talk to breeders who specialize in baby tarantulas that are bred in captivity. My Rosy was an adoption from a family that had purchased her from a responsible breeder. 

Number two, do not buy any souvenirs that are made using dead tarantulas. If there is no market for this kind of souvenir, people will stop killing tarantulas to make them. Number three, get involved with a local college, or an app like iNaturalist, that is studying tarantula populations. So much amazing research is supported by citizen scientists and you can help make a difference. You could be taking a hike in the desert or a tour in tropical forest and reporting a siting on iNaturalist can help researchers. 

I know I’ve gone over a bit in the episode and I apologize, but I am completely fascinated by these amazing arachnids and I want them to survive for millennia to come! Thank you so much for taking the tarantula journey with me. The conservation efforts we are taking to ensure their continued survival is my tenth favorite thing about tarantulas. 

 

If you're enjoying this podcast please recommend me to friends and family and take a moment to give me a rating on whatever platform your listening. It will help me reach more listeners and give the animals I talk about an even better chance at change. 

 

Join me in two weeks for the beginning of a brand new series discussing a wicked cool unknown animal, the caecilian. 

 

(Piano Music plays) 

This has been an episode of Ten Things I like About with Kiersten and Company. Original music written and performed by Katherine Camp, piano extraordinaire.