Big Bend National Park is Being Robbed
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ธ.ค. 2021
- If you’re hiking in Big Bend National Park, in Texas, chances are you probably won’t even notice one of its more diminutive residents - the living rock cactus.
That’s partly because the living rock cactus is low growing and relies on camouflage to defend itself from predators. But a slightly more insidious reason you won’t find them? Poachers. Cactus poachers. They’ve been stealing cacti across the desert southwest and Mexico, all in an effort to satiate demand for the ever-growing cactus black market.
The increased demand for succulent plants and succulent gardens as a trendy home decoration has started to take its toll on desert flora and fauna, though. They’re starting to suffer the consequences of illegal cactus harvesting. And in this video, I’ll walk you through that black market and the devastating consequences it’s having on one of America’s most iconic National Parks. Enjoy!
As a Tucson native, this is something I learned about recently. I have no idea how someone can go and steal a fully grown saguaro, but it is a big enough problem, that now the National Park is putting chips in some of their cactus so they can track them if they are stolen
Government is always looking for ways to spend your money
@@BFjordsman well keep in mind those catus ate a major part of an ecosystem it affects us if it affects our ecosystem
@@BFjordsman yah i kinda like having intact natural ecosystems and not living in a shithole.
@@baneofbanes
Then I'm sure you'd have no problem donating money for the cause.
That is so crazy. I'm new to Tucson, and I was so shocked when I saw the trucks hauling saguaros. Incredible that anyone could move one, even with years of training and permission to do so!
After visiting the area because of the park back in '89, I was so taken with the place I moved here in '95. There is no other place like the Big Bend of Texas, full stop. So anything that happens as described in this episode- and very good job on it and your channel overall, it's impressive- I and we take really, really personally. There are precious few wild public lands in Texas-which would make for another, darker episode- so few that Big Bend is truly an island in a vast sea.
Its sad because seeds are fairly easy to find online. I have a seedling right now. Yes it takes much longer but its ethical and you still get to grow the plant.
How long do they take to get say 4" wide under fair conditions?
@@jeffhooper3447 At least ten years
Ethics is boring Imma just walk outside and get a plant
It'd be cool if someone had grown a ton of them from seed, then flooded the market with cheap rock cacti, to ruin the black market.
@@andylindsaytunes It would be cool and in a way this is already the case. Ariocarpus fissuratus and some of the other ariocarpus arent particulalry "rare" in cultivation. This is kind of the point of my comment, people grow these plants from seed all the time and the seeds can be obtained ethically from other cultivated stock. The issue is that most of the cultivated plants are smaller and look different than wild plants. Wild plants grow in full sun and nutrient poor soil and it makes them grow very compact. This can be replicated in cultivation but it requires really good contditions and there is a tradeoff between speed of growth and how "wild" the plant looks. Therefore a certain kind of collector will gravitate towrwards these poached plants because they just need to have a giant speciment plant right now. Its a bad mindset in my view but it is partially driven by the biology of these plants, they are amazingly slow.
Most of the poached plants are like this -- slow growers that take a long time to get to specimen status. The wild plants can take decades or even centuries to grow to full size in habitat. The supply of cultivated plants that look like big beutiful specimens that growers also want to sell is very low and the price is very high (if I get my seedlings to specimen status I'll want to keep them as cherished possesions). I do think the solution is to cultivate in the long term but its unfortunatley a difficult situation.
I camped in terlingua when I went to big bend a few weeks ago and I stopped by a rock shop there. Was looking at their cacti and noticed they had some ariocarpus fissuratas for sale. The shop owner said they're legal to sell and that he has tons of them on his property and that he also grows them. They were only 15-20$ each strangely, even though the shop keeper knew how much they sell for typically.
Wow
wonder how many poachers just buy them from him and resell em lmao
@@brandon9172 hopefully not a lot lol. Kinda weird the dude could make a loot more money and he told me he wanted to retire soon. He also told me a local got in a bunch of trouble for shipping them to Asia. I bought a few of them ngl, rather go to someone who actually knows what they're doing then someone who will keep it on their kitchen counter until it dies. Might replant them next time I go out to the area.
I'm pretty sure the video mentioned that the poachers are shipping them over seas to drive up their price since they aren't endemic over there which makes them rarer. I see lythops in a few stores pretty cheaply but rarely ever as big as pictured in the video.
One strategy to push against poaching is to flood the market with plants (usually farmed) to drive down the allure and value. Hopefully deterring poachers
So silly that people are paying thst much for this cactus and hurting it. I have had many friends sustainably grow ariocarpus by grafting. You could literally get a prime specimen for 100$ and know that you did not just endanger a species.
Very nice presentation. I hope this helps to inform would be purchasers of living rock cactus to consider where they are coming from. These are amazing plants, and probably should be afforded more protections that they currently have. Thanks for another great video!
Thanks Mike! Yea, I was really surprised to learn they weren't protected domestically in some way. Especially since CITES lists them as being threatened with extinction...
It inspired me to head to that area and get as many of them as I can. I live close to it.
@@devinb5937 Something tells me you don't actually get inspired by much.
@@hattielankford4775 I’m inspired by dollars babe
@@devinb5937 Aaaannd you're the reason we have regulations.
Lots of black market cactus. It’s honestly crazy
Well it's nice to see that it just took an act of Congress for law enforcement to actually act. The multimillion dollar initiatives to stop some kid from smoking a cigarette but things that actually matter they'll drive right past it if not over it.
That's okay they're money and greed will corrupt everything and it'll get to the point where they won't even have oxygen to breathe sad State of affairs.
Another excellent national parks related video. As I watch more of your videos I am very happy that I discovered your channel. Keep up the good work and I hope your channel grows exponentially.
I really appreciate that! Thanks for being here and supporting the channel. Onward and upward from here!
typical, rich people ruining everything because they want something unique
As someone who has a TH-cam channel about plants this is very sad to see and unfortunately it’s happening all around the world.
I do think that education is the biggest piece of the puzzle - if the cactus collector's market are more widely informed of the environmental destruction going on here, the cactus black market will have no incentive to continue theft and trafficking once sales plummet. I hope word spreads and that buyers will make the right decision, which if there is enough outrage and backlash among cactus aficionados, that will wind up stigmatizing those who continue to fund the illicit plant trade.
This story reminds me of how ivory is much less sought after as a luxury good now in most parts of the world, due to more widespread knowledge of how elephants are killed to obtain it, and how many people nowadays are more heavily scrutinizing the sources of cacao and diamonds, which have been exposed as markets rife with child/slave labor.
I hope the best for these unique plants!
Completely agree! Education doesn't solve a lot of environmental issues, but I firmly believe that it plays a role in just about all of them. The more people understand about the way our world works and our impacts on it, the more we'll be able to do to save it. It's a slower way to impart change, but more impactful. Unfortunately, time isn't on our side - but I still have hope!
I have 4 healthy ones I bought in Marfa, Texas. It was from a man's property and it is legal to buy them. Near Big Bend National Park, east of the park are 1000s of them in the wild and hopefully they will remain there. Also I noticed the imfamous Horse Cripper is getting more difficult to find. It also grows close to the ground. In the spring the purple flowers gives in to its presence. Lastly the peyote is on the list for various reasons.
wrong, these are the kinds of people who just want something for the sake of having is and to fulfill their collection. It's likely they could care less about the source of their desire
@@chrism8180 you are on the right track. I do have 4 plants but bought them legally in West Texas. If the plant is on your property you can sell them legally. I know where there are 1000s of this speices but I will not tell anyone the location. Leave them be!
You’d be surprised at how many people just dont care.
Video about the chihuahuan desert, *thumbnail of the sonoran desert* talking about big bend *videos of saguaros from az*
Great video, thanks! Please cover a similar topic if you get a chance - the poaching of native flowers and foliage from within Olympic National Park for large scale commercial sale. Cheers
thanks for the new side hustle!!
Years ago in Arizona, the barrel cactus was poached a lot, not sure if it has made a come back yet.
I learn a lot of your videos, thks so much!
Glad I could help, thanks for watching!
If a few cacti farms just grew enough of these to have them readily available, poaching may slow.
Wouldnt be profitable.
@@baneofbanes if you grow enough of them and sell them at high enough price it would be
@@baneofbanes Why wouldn't it be profitable? There's obviously a global market for it and there is already a huge amount of commercial cactus farming so people can have cacti in their homes. Some of the companies that already farm cacti for commercial sale could start farming some of these too since they already have the infrastructure
@@TheZebinator did you miss the part where it takes decades to grow?
@@baneofbanes I hadn't watched that far into the video yet tbh, got distracted by the comment section
Well done as always my friend!
Thanks, Eric! Much appreciated!
wow I had no idea! Cacti are the new houseplant to have, the more the better! Excellent video. How can we know if the cacti is okay to buy?
Someone once said "Crime pays, but botany doesn't"
This is actually a huge issue across the SW. There's a huge black market for succulents, and lots of succlulents have been poached from CA. There was even an article on this in the NYT! So sad.
Very interesting video. Big Bend National Park is one of my favorite places.
Yes, and unfortunately these types of activities are not limited to Big Bend. This sort of thing is happening on public lands across the country ☹
I love cacti and I do collect them. Sucks this kind of thing is giving the hobby a bad name.
You should look into the disappearing Dudleya succulents of CA's parks. Would be so cool to see a follow up video on them.
Also... Not quite sure how you can do a whole video on living rock cacti without mentioning Peyote 🤔
Now I'm curious if the racism that led to the illegality of Peyote in the first place, is contributing to the slow response to protect them?...
Maybe they can make a deal with people who grow them from seed to replant more in the desert and then get some guards to patrol them.
Succulents are big business. As a native and resident of the Sonoran desert I’ve been taught since childhood to not disturb the wildlife..
Aww y cant people leave nature in nature. 😪
nothing people do is natural. we destroy habitat for dwellings and luxury. Shit in toilets, recycle the waste water for drinking water and ship of the sludge to be turned into lawn fertilizer. Really take a second to evaluate your own actions. How much of your life is based in nature?
How would someone get involved in the preservation and cultivation of these endangered species, I own a small plot of land with a small green house that I grow succulents among other types, my favorite is my 4 foot tall aloe plant that blooms every year! I would love if my hobby could help protect these amazing plants, as I understand the peyote button cactus is suffering the same threat of poaching because they have psychoactive properties, so sad, when I care for my plants as if they were my pets and others only want to exploit them!
I think a great place to start would be your local Native Plant Society (most states have a chapter) or your local Naturalist Group. They'd at least be able to send you in the right direction. Best of luck!
I was planning to go out there just before Covid hit. We booked a house near Austin on Air B&B, then had to cancel. The owner and Air B&B were so nice about this. My partner died from Leukemia. Maybe I'll get out there next year.
I'm so sorry to heart that. Sending love and good vibes your way. I hope you are able to make it out to Big Bend someday. Much love ❤
Sheesh people just buy some seeds at the gift shop instead of ripping the plants out of their home.
North Carolina has a similar problem with Venus Flytraps being poached around Wilmington. But none of that land is protected.
Which makes it even worse since Venus Flytraps, like the Living Rock, are restricted to a specific range as well.
This was so eye-opening as a Texan
That's not the only cactus that's being black marketed. There are many.
This would be rare if we lived in an economy of productivity instead of artificial scarcity.
Not really always a black market and theres always something that’s scarce and in demand.
Me: That's horrible, how can people do that?
Also Me: That's a cool looking plant. I want one.
This shit is so infuriating, like just take the time to grow from seed, plenty are in cultivation and people produce seeds. With a life-cycle like that in it's natural habitat, it's just not right, just let them hide.
I say those in Big Bend, too cool for this to be the objective of this video. I have seen them in other locations through out the southwest and southern Colorado.
The saguaro cactus are starting to rot out at the bases nowadays here in Arizona. It's not good at all
Human greed knows no limits
Wow that’s a cool plant! Where can I get one? Actually, I think I know a guy
They are most likely removing peyote as well. If they haven’t already removed them all😞
Thank god i own lots of them! I will protect them where ever they c a n be found!
These plants won't survive well after the trauma of being moved.
Speaking of rare plants, I live in tulare county I should start stealing giant sequoia and sell them by the ton on the black market imagine how much $ I could make!
Tumblr has done it again... (joking, but I definitely think it was a large part of the succulent surge)
You can buy cultivated cacti online. Sure natural cacti are cool but come on...
Talk about turtle poaching in the US
Lol. I knew a guy that took a truck load of turtles from Missouri to California.
He was stopped at the boarder and spent time in prison.
BTW turtles are a dime a dozen in Missouri.
Just California being stupid.
Its funny how endangered doesn't go the other way.
And commieforia puts a guy in prison for increasing the population.
Im sure the commies kept the turtles and recieve money saying they increased the population.
conservation agents are needed round the world
Aight you should be proud to have even a smal catus that is rare EVEN MORE SO if it was grown from seed that is a major plus to your own collection of catus...so like.....
I think about drugs in this. The cacti aren't being poached to harvest peyote? That's where I thought this black market vlog was going. So, I looked up peyote cacti...they look similar.🤷🏽♂️?
Living Rock are related to peyote, but aren't quite the same. They do contain mild hallucinogens, but not enough quantities to really drive a black market, at least to my knowledge.
@@NationalParkDiaries yes, I googled more on Living Rock, I wanted to know the scientific name and if they were a source of peyote, and a type is also called False Peyote. Thanks!
@@mannybravo237 Ah, gotcha. Their scientific name is Ariocarpus fissuratus, which I do believe is the False Peyote
@@NationalParkDiaries lohpora diffusa is typically what ppl refer to when they're saying false peyote. Lophora williamsi is peyote. They're all endangered and poached though despite not being psychoactive. Very sought after cacti. Same deal with star cactus.
Most peyote consumed is now cultivated. Partly, it was saved by being a sacred item in a Native American religeous ceremony. It was made legal for practitioners. So now, many grow it.
voy a plantar pistachos < voy a plantar biznagas
0:13 true cacti have no spines.
Peyote cactus. I doubt people are putting these on their desk in the office.
Well now I want one lol
It pisses me off that people risk putting this plant to extinction all to line their fucking pockets.
"when you think about black market you probably think about drugs...........and not cacti" well mister narrator man ive got some news for you about certain cacti.
Ariocarpus are very sensitive and rare
Indeed. That's one of the many reasons their poaching is so destructive.
@@NationalParkDiaries it’s a shame. I live in Texas and go to BB and the Guads often. Great channel btw!
@@edk2221 Agreed. Hopefully some of the enforcement actions and educational initiatives have an impact.
And thanks!
Maybe they should do what they do for pines that are used in paper. Sustainable Harvesting where they plant a bunch of endangered cacti In green houses over the corse of a decade for each of the different stages than every few years there will be a few cacti ready to harvest
it looks like a poopy
Ariocarpus!!
So how do I get one?
How do I get it to reproduce?
How do I find people that want to buy my cactus.?
Shoot I've just been removing cactus.
You mean people pay good money for them?
There's this cool search engine called Google ... if you don't mind your every search tracked.
Black market for Cacti?
I'd rather grow one from seed to feel actual accomplishment, I've had to wait months for even mint plants to rise to the surface of soil, but to grow a cactus from seed, that's a REAL accomplishment. It would be like having a friend grow with you through the decades.
FYI, there are no Saguaros in TX ;-)
Haha, you are correct - good catch! I mainly used them as a visual aid since they're very recognizable as a "cactus" for most people. But thanks for pointing it out!
Shows the Sonoran desert in the thumbnail.....
Can you please do another on big Ben natural park
Sure, I can try and work something in. Have any subjects you'd like to see?
Maybe they can do the history of the iconic clock tower of the same name there.
The Chihuahuan Desert is huge and is mostly in Mexico. The plants will be fine , it doesn't matter if the national park loses all of them , there's plenty in the whole desert.
How are you about to use stock footage of Arizona with Saguaros in the backround when describing Big Bend National Park @0:09? Sloppy....
Practice Leave no trace principles people.
👆
That's what I do with my life.... except stolen...
I hope they are being replanted. If they have a place to live than its not as horrible. If they are being replanted, they probably have a better place to live. Yet this may disrupt their reproduction.
Shit, I got in the wrong business!
I've been selling these for years, my dad sold them and so did his dad. Their in our backyard, and there's hundreds of thousands of these and in the past 15 to 20 years I've never had one person ask for one by name, I have to try to sell them and they only sell for 40 or 50ea locally. How can I get 1k each and where can I ship??
Edit. I guess the people doing this for years don't really benefit from it.
Facebook groups is your best bet.
Where do l write to encourage strict enforcement? l am tired of public property getting stolen.
Grow them.
End the black market by encouraging a legal market.. all prohibition is useless government is the problem not the answer
Aren't you advertising where people can find them.
When gov.dont care about their citizen many bad and odd things happened
A dessert to go
This cactus is valubal as it contains chemicals like LSD and LSA-111 hordinine!
😪
This is why we cannot have nice things?
Is a genetic survey a way to identify where suspect 'merch' actually came from?
That I do not know. Although, they have been planting GPS devices in Saguaros to try to deter theft: tucson.com/news/local/saguaro-national-park-using-microchips-to-deter-cactus-theft/article_a0faad0c-4acf-5bc2-b731-9314287d3a12.html
And no one is growing them? That's how you stop poaching. There's a list of animals you were on the endangered species list until it became legal to actually hunt them. Now their populations are increasing. Now the poachers has to contend with hundreds of people who are armed. This also creates income which pays for services that helps with breeding and protecting the habitat for these various species. Along with the list of other things that end results. The species populations rebounding.
There are efforts to propagate the Living Rock from seed, but because the cactus is so slow growing, these efforts can't keep up with the scale of poaching going on. There will have to be a comprehensive program of protection and education to truly conserve the species.
It's very commonly grown and propagated. The issue is their genetics change, so introducing a living rock cactus with new genetics would not be good.
Is going to be more porcher's your advertising it value
No
it's possible because folks like you spread the word to every criminal within driving distance of the park by clearly explaining just how to steal them & where to steal them with these Videos
Youre not that dumb are you?
first they are not living rocks, they are living stones, of which there are many different species, none are cactus, succulents
And thats not what hes talking about.
Need to check your self when making videos, you have a saguaro in the background, that video was not from Bigbend. So what else is miss leading?
I mean maybe that’s why we should only allow Americans in our national parks, it would certainly help with the crowds.
Thank you. So amazing, turns out, cacti are an original species, and cactus are the second generations , and they are harvested for consumption (tequilas )or pleasure (botanical gardens). I knew someone who lived in Yuma, and had a giant five finger cactus tree, visible from great distance, they cut it down because it might fall on their park model temporary dwelling. I see that this is Similar to first gen fallen angels and their offspring, then the (giants) (now us), consumed them all. Turns out eating, drinking and being merry does NOT mean what we think it means. [Ale and wine]{The manna} thank you.
I've always really admired the way cacti have adapted to their surroundings. There's something really beautiful and poetic about persevering through harsh conditions and thriving on the other side. Incredible group of plants.
Why not just break of a leaf and propagate it? It's a succulent, any respectfull smuggler could spare the plant.
Chyna, Mexicans are reporting the same.
Those are some ugly cacti
Welp, found me a new hustle 😂
Why this plant?.. whats so special
A couple reasons. One is that this plant is often mistaken for peyote (it's often called "false" peyote), so people take it mistakenly for that reason. Another is simply that it's a rare succulent and people want that sort of thing in their homes, so collectors go and remove the Living Rock illegally to meet that demand.
I want one
Although an excellent video, not sure it is wise to publicize this nefarious money making scheme. Times are really tough for an awful lot of people.
In my opinion, we have to bring awareness to these issues in order to stop them. The more people know about what's happening here, the more likely we are to prevent them.
Probably doesn’t help that Trump brought in heavy equipment erect his ego fencing.
Come on people. Quit using canned footage that is not Big Bend National Park.
Save the snails! save the gay whales! What a joke! We can't even save ourselves! This planet was here long before people and it will be here long after we're gone! And no plant or animal gives a $hit.
Seeing stuff like this makes me wish i was in charge of one of these environmental protection agencies or even president so that i could easily solve situations like this real quick by taking things just waaayy too seriously and like, setting-up snipers or something whose sole purpose is to guard these areas and literally take out poachers lol, like i guarantee it'd stop if you did that, it sucks they're so lax currently with border enforcement because that's probably where a lot of these specific poachers are coming from/bringing the plants too. It's be very easy for a cartel to just illegally farm these plants with couriers and bring them back into Mexico for black market sales. It's basically that one South Park meme "they took arre jerbs!" but replace jobs with cacti lol.
These plants are native to Mexico and the surrounding desert area so they are not an exotic species, so I doubt there is as high a demand as there is in Europe and Asia. They’re very difficult to grow and so no, cartels won’t “easily be able to farm them” to sell them in Mexico where they are originally found.
@@meepcity48 m8 I get what you're trying to say but... a few things; first, yes they are also native to Mexico but only to the Chihuahua desert, as in this specific plant only grow in this one desert, which spans across the US/Mex border, out of the whole world, so overall they're still quite rare and valuable to cacti collectors, second, i kind of mis-typed when i said "farmed" what i meant was basically that they're digging them up and bringing them back to Mex, aka "farming" the desert of them to sell to overseas cacti collectors, and that's also what i meant when i said "black market sales", i never said they'd be selling them in Mexico, just that they're taking them back there so they can easily ship them to their international buyers for big profits. Basically, I'd be very surprised if the cartel WASN'T the ones behind this mass poaching operation seeing how much money is involved in selling them to China or wherever. That's what my original comment was suspecting, I was just trying to do it in a funny way lol.
I got to go get myself one. These look dope as fuck.
No