U.S. Shopping Mall Trade in Native Animals

Sugar gliders are native to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. They live communally in groups of thirty or more and enjoy gliding, playing, and searching for food.

Gliders are weigh around 3.5-4.5 ounces and are approximately 11 inches in length, 6-7 inches of that being taken up by a semi-prehensile tail. They have large black eyes, a pointed nose, and pointed ears that are large in comparison to their head. Like the North American flying squirrel sugar gliders have a membrane that stretches from their hands to their feet. The gliders fur is short, very soft, and usually brown or grey with a white to off-white belly. A black stripe starts at their head and goes to the base of their tail.  The tail is generally grey or brown with a black tip.  Several breeders have bred sugar gliders to other colours.  Albinos are all white with pink eyes and Leucistic are all white with black eyes. Female gliders have a small pouch and males have a small furry sack which descends from their lower abdomen called a pom which holds their testicles.

Their scientific name is Petaurus breviceps and they are in the same order as other natives such as kangaroos, opossums, wombats, and Tasmanian devils. Yet they are regularly sold to families in U.S. malls.

Complaints continue to pour in from customers of CBL & Associates malls regarding Pocket Pets, a traveling kiosk that sells these tiny exotic marsupials. PETA has reached out to executives, but pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears. In some U.S. states, sugar gliders are actually listed as “exotic pets” and are legal.

Because of the kiosks' locations in malls and the species' cute appearance, shoppers purchase the animals on impulse like toys, oblivious to their special, long-term needs. 

Sugar gliders' natural diet consists of native insects, wattle gum and eucalyptus sap, which U.S. shoppers rarely have access to. Most U.S. vets also have no resources to provide sugar gliders with health.

Sugar gliders deserve to live in their native habitat, where they can glide, play with their family members and search for food. Shoppers do not need these pets and typically grow bored with them shortly after purchase.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

The Care2 Petition is looking for 10,000 signatures to take their petition to the US Congress. You can sign your outrage here.

Contact PETA directly and offer your support to their campaign.

Remind your family and friends, any little critter that may fit in your handbag is a real, live animal and shouldn’t be bought on a whim because they look cute. They need care for a lifetime in their natural environment.