Any fairy tale will tell you: dragons are best kept at a safe distance — not as pets. That advice also applies to dragon-like earless monitor lizards: captivating creatures whose only habitat is rainforest-covered Borneo. Just five subpopulations of these lizards remain, but the exotic pet trade is driving these real-life dragons toward extinction. Following a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently proposed listing earless monitor lizards as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — but still wants to allow trade. That contradicts the science showing trade is one of the two greatest threats to the species. The exotic pet trade is driving these real-life dragons toward extinction, and it needs to stop. #stopwildlifetrade #wildlifeconservation #endangeredspecies [Image description: An earless monitor lizard sits on a green-covered rock.]