Just a thought....if conservation is the goal, maybe we shouldn't buy animals that have to be smuggled out of Madagascar to the breeders in Asia and Europe in the first place? Just a thought....
Imagine
that...
There isn't a thing anyone can do to ensure the survival of species without placing a big emphasis on habitat conservation. On the other hand, to present an argument in favor of purchasing protected species (that have not been allowed to be exported legally out of their country of origin for a decade) in Europe over Asia shows a basic lack of understanding of the intrinsic corruptive nature of bureaucratic international systems such as CITES.
In a nutshell, animals that are exported out of Madagascar illegally can be taken through more lenient (and corrupted) systems in Asia, where they are re-labeled as "legally-obtained" (claiming acquisition before the ban was implemented or as "captive-bred"), and once CITES in Indonesia or Japan places the seal of approval on the animals, the true origin disappears as CITES Europe or U.S.A. is rarely going to question CITES Japan or Indonesia. This is not necessarily the fault of CITES Asia, as each country differs in their ability to dedicate resources to these issues. All a "breeder" (smuggler) in Asia has to do is show "proof" or somehow convince the more limited and compromised CITES authority in Indonesia (in contrast to the more resourceful CITES North America or Europe) that the animals were legally-obtained, resulting in the purchase of an animal with "legitimate" CITES documentation by someone in Europe or the Americas with the best intention in mind.
Nonetheless, to justify the purchase of
Calumma species in Europe rather than Indonesia for the sake of conservation is like justifying the importation of any other critically-endangered species because one hopes to save the species by introducing them back into the wild in the future. It's not that simple.
Finally, to be clear, I'm not condemning people's decision to purchase
Calumma species-- we all have blood on our hands, whether we are private keepers or zoological institutions, and I don't see much of a difference between the over collection of prohibited
perarmata and
brevicaudatus (mislabeled by CITES as
kerstenii)-- all I wish is for us to realize that our keeping these animals is largely self-serving and that (with the exception of some institutions and individuals), our captive-breeding programs will do little to nothing to ensure their survival in the wild.
Cheers,
Fabián
where, how, and by what means, the animal they just bought where obtained. A whole lota gray in that picture. 
