Thousands of Flying Squirrels Taken from Florida in $1M Trafficking Operation

Seven people have been arrested for illegally capturing flying squirrels in the wild and selling them in the international exotic pet trade.

Wildlife officials have uncovered and successfully taken down a trafficking operation in Florida that has seen thousands of flying squirrels captured from the wild. 

The traffickers reportedly set up to 10,000 traps to catch the squirrels, and more than 3,600 of the animals were shipped overseas to be sold as exotic pets for hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

Now, at least seven people have been arrested for the operation so far, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced last week.

Investigators revealed that the thousands of squirrels were captured in multiple counties in Central Florida over a three-year period. The animals were then sold to a wildlife dealer in Bushnell, who laundered them through his licensed business and claimed they were captive bred.

The agency explained that buyers from South Korea would travel to the U.S. and purchase the flying squirrels from the wildlife dealer in Bushnell.

In the exotic pet trade, the FWC estimates that the international retail value of the trafficked squirrels will exceed $1 million. 

“Wildlife conservation laws protect Florida’s precious natural resources from abuse. The concerned citizen who initially reported this activity started an investigation that uncovered a major smuggling operation. These poachers could have severely damaged Florida’s wildlife populations,” said a FWC investigator.

The operation was also found to be illegally involved with other wildlife too. Protected freshwater turtles and alligators were captured and laundered through “seemingly legitimate licensed businesses”, where documents were falsified and concealed the true source of the wildlife.  

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