Millions of reptiles are both legally and illegally traded annually. However, the number of species being exploited for the live animal trade far exceeds any other demand, such as for use in the exotic leather trade. The huge diversity and abundance of reptiles traded globally is concerning as commercial consumer demand can result in unsustainable harvests which could lead to species declines or even extinctions. With this study we examine the trade between two of the significant countries involved in the global reptile trade: Indonesia and the United States (US). Between 2000 and 2015, the US imported at least 234 070 live reptiles encompassing 83 CITES-listed species and 810 534 live reptiles encompassing 118 non-CITES listed species from Indonesia. Besides the export of its native reptiles to the US, Indonesia also plays a role as re-exporter of live reptiles from other countries; specifically, those of the Asian region and Australia. Moreover, not only did we detect fraudulent trade, we also found potentially unsustainable trade levels for several species. This is concerning for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that reptiles are still very much an understudied group of animals, whereby biological information and the status of wild populations are lacking for many species, information that is crucial in assessing whether harvest for trade is sustainable or a threat to species.

每年都有数以百万计的爬行动物合法和非法交易。但是，用于活体动物贸易的物种数量远远超过了其他需求，例如用于外来皮革贸易的物种。全球贸易中爬行动物的多样性和丰富性令人担忧，因为商业消费者的需求可能导致不可持续的收成，从而可能导致物种减少甚至灭绝。通过这项研究，我们研究了涉及全球爬行动物贸易的两个重要国家之间的贸易：印度尼西亚和美国。在2000年至2015年之间，美国从印度尼西亚进口了至少234070种活体爬行动物，涵盖了83种CITES物种，而810534种活体爬行动物涵盖了118种非CITES物种。除了向美国出口本地爬行动物外，印度尼西亚还充当其他国家的活体爬行动物的再出口国；特别是亚洲地区和澳大利亚。此外，我们不仅发现了欺诈性贸易，而且还发现了几种物种的潜在不可持续贸易水平。这有两个原因，其中最重要的一个事实是，爬行动物仍然是一个未被充分研究的动物群，因此许多物种缺乏生物学信息和野生种群的状况，这对于评估爬行动物至关重要。贸易收获是可持续的还是对物种的威胁。