The illegal wildlife trade has direct relevance for zoo management, animal acquisition and disposition and it has no place in modern zoo management. Zoos must not only act within the law of the country in which it is based, but they should also follow the rules and intentions of international trade regulations and, where relevant, domestic laws of the animal’s country of origin. After its rediscovery in 2012, zoos in Asia and Europe started displaying Bornean earless monitor lizards (Lanthanotus borneensis), the ‘Holy Grail of Herpetology’. Earless monitor lizards have been legally protected in each of its three range countries for over four decades and, over this period, no specimen has ever been legally exported. However, the illicit trade in the species is thriving and individuals become more affordable. Using publicly available data, I present a timeline of how and from where a total of 16 zoos acquired their earless monitor lizards, including from private individuals and non-accredited zoos. Apart from one zoo in Japan (since 2012) and one zoo in the USA (since 2021), all non-range country zoos that currently display the species are based in Europe. Their absence prior to 2021 in US zoos (despite an increasing illegal trade) could be explained as the acquisition of earless monitor lizards would have been in violation of the Lacey Act (1900) that requires buyers to ensure that imported or purchased wildlife has not been taken in violation of any foreign law. While there is no evidence that any of the zoos, their directors or their staff have broken any laws – no-one in the zoo community has been convicted for illegally trading earless monitor lizards – with more zoos speaking out against the illegal wildlife trade, it is imperative that zoos behave in an exemplary manner and set high standards. At present, some zoos do not meet this standard.

中文翻译：

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动物园同意非法野生动物贸易——以无耳巨蜥为例

非法野生动物贸易与动物园管理、动物获取和处置直接相关，在现代动物园管理中没有立足之地。动物园不仅必须在其所在国家/地区的法律范围内行事，而且还应遵守国际贸易法规的规则和意图，以及相关动物原产国的国内法律。2012 年重新发现后，亚洲和欧洲的动物园开始展示婆罗洲无耳巨蜥（Lanthanotus borneensis），这是“爬虫学的圣杯”。四年多来，无耳巨蜥在其三个分布国中的每一个都受到法律保护，在此期间，没有任何标本被合法出口。然而，该物种的非法贸易正在蓬勃发展，个人变得更加负担得起。使用公开数据，我提供了一个时间表，说明总共 16 个动物园是如何以及从哪里获得它们的无耳巨蜥的，其中包括来自个人和未经认证的动物园。除了日本的一个动物园（自 2012 年起）和美国的一个动物园（自 2021 年起）外，目前展示该物种的所有非放牧国家动物园都位于欧洲。它们在 2021 年之前在美国动物园中的缺席（尽管非法贸易不断增加）可以解释为收购无耳巨蜥违反了《雷斯法案》（1900 年），该法案要求买家确保进口或购买的野生动物未被违反任何外国法律。虽然没有证据表明任何动物园，他们的董事或员工违反了任何法律——动物园社区中没有人因非法交易无耳巨蜥而被定罪——随着越来越多的动物园公开反对非法野生动物贸易，动物园必须以模范的方式行事并制定高标准。目前，一些动物园不符合这一标准。