Poachers Load Up On California Coastal Succulents, Sell Them In Asia For $50 Each

[Brother Buzz]

Poachers Load Up On California Coastal Succulents, Sell Them In Asia For $50 Each

Officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife say the latest succulent poaching in Humboldt County was worth around $90,000.


A new kind of poaching is taking place in Northern California: Thieves are stripping succulents from cliffs near the ocean, boxing them up and shipping them to countries like Korea, China and Japan.

“It took us a while to figure out what was going on, because this has never really happened before,” said Capt. Patrick Foy with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division. “This is not something that Californians are going to tolerate.”

They’re called Dudleya and they grow on the edge of cliffs. They sort of look like artichokes — green with pinkish tips. Foy says, in Asia they're sold as decorations for up to $50.

About a year ago, Foy says, the department began getting tips that people were flying into San Francisco, renting a car and dropping people off at night to steal the succulents.

“In localized areas it’s pretty bad,” Foy said. “These folks are going in and ripping every single plant out.”

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Any succulents seized have been replanted.

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http://www.capradio.org/articles/2018/04/09/poachers-load-up-on-california-coastal-succulents-sell-them-in-asia-for-50-each/

Back in another life, I liberated a few of the plants too. I'd plant them in abalone shell along with a few other succulents to give away to F&F (friends and family). I did the same thing with cactus, but the small cacti came from nurseries.

[BigmanPigman]

1. Smuggling Cacti and not weed in Humbolt...

never I thought I'd hear that in my lifetime.

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

2. A few weeks ago I noticed they were all gone off a boulder I drive by on the way to town.

West Sonoma County... Now I know why they were gone. Sad...