People are stealing succulents from The Huntington

The Huntington Library, Art Museum and 130 acres of botanical gardens had more than a million visitors to the San Marino destination in 2023, and folks keep visiting. However, some took more than just a souvenir home.

Thieves are digging up plants, hiding them in their bags and selling them online, said Nicole Cavendar, the Telleen/Jorgensen director of the Botanical Gardens.

“You know, it’s more than we’d like, more common than we’d like,” said Cavendar regarding the plant thefts.

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This past summer, 10 known plants were stolen, which represents roughly a quarter of the total plant losses the garden has had. More than six plants were stolen last year, though many were logged as unspecific cuttings from the site’s Desert Garden, making it difficult to determine how many species were impacted, according to Cavendar.

Still, there are certain hotspots throughout the garden that experience more attention from thieves, including the Desert Collections and the Tropical Collections.

Sean Lahmeyer, associate director of Botanical Collections, Conservation and Research, said Huntington officials are discussing what data about rare plants staffers will share with the public, since they want to prevent further poaching.

Plants from the genus Agave, cacti-like Opuntia, the Crassulaceae family and small tropical species such as aroids are among the most frequently targeted, officials said.

The 16 themed garden collections at the Huntington contain more than 83,000 living plants, including rare and endangered species, along with a laboratory for botanical conservation and research.

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Lahmeyer said that the Botanical Gardens at the Huntington are one of the most diverse plant collections in the world. Stealing from them and harming their collection has detrimental consequences for certain plant populations.

Lahmeyer discouraged associating a monetary cost to the plants that have been stolen to estimate their worth.

“​​Their worth cannot be measured in dollars when it comes to their biodiversity and importance to our planet and humanity,” Lahmeyer said. “Our goal is to convey to the public that protecting these rare or endangered species is invaluable, due to the countless ways they contribute to our world.”

The team at the gardens preserves plants whose natural habitats have long been destroyed, which is what makes theft from them so significant.

“This is why we are like a zoo,” Lahmeyer said.

Some of the rare plants that are stolen, such as Pitcheveria and cacti, are not easily replaced, because their original habitat has been degraded or destroyed.

One cactus that was stolen, originally from Argentina, had been in a garden collection since the 1960s. Lahmeyer said it was one of the few of that species they had in their collections, and it would be challenging to get again.

Lahmeyer sees the garden’s collections as the same as a library or museum. Except the botanical gardens are a living archive.

Plant theft is not just happening at the gardens at the Huntington, it’s a global issue.

“It’s a major operation that’s happening across the world,” said Cavendar.

Wildlife trafficking is among the largest illegal markets in the world, and it often exploits the same trade routes as narcotics, human trafficking, and weapons.

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Places with a natural succulent population such as South Africa, Argentina and California are at risk for plant trafficking, said Cavendar.

“What we’re seeing is that these people are going out and they’re collecting many, many plants and almost wiping out the populations of these natural populations that may have been growing for hundreds of years,” said Cavendar.

People will come into the gardens, oftentimes with backpacks, to steal plants. They are being sold primarily online, and are being moved across the world similar to other criminal trade routes.

The market is a key driver in the issue, Cavendar said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people wanted to have plants in their homes. Cavendar described this as a “plant craze.”

This led to more people buying plants, primarily online.

“The internet became a facilitator of this trade,” Cavendar said. “And so people were buying plants, but not necessarily understanding that the plants were linked to this illegal plant trade.”

The plants are often sold online by these thieves for under-market value, which drives their business.

Cavendar is all for people growing their own plants, but she is worried about where people are getting them from.

Cavendar encouraged plant lovers to ask questions when they are shopping for plants, mainly asking vendors where they source their plants.

One way to spot a suspicious plant vendor is an unwillingness to answer the source of their plants.

She points out that the gardens do sell succulents for people to buy on the property.

“We really promote growing them. It’s just, let’s not harm our natural populations,” said Cavendar.

The Botanical Gardens at the Huntington have expanded its security efforts over the past year to help further protect the botanical collections, including putting in more cameras in the gardens.

If somebody is caught stealing a plant, the local authorities would be notified. However, most of the time the plant thieves have been caught by security before they walk off with the plant.

Being caught stealing a plant will result in removal from the property and termination of membership to the Huntington, if applicable.

The value of illegal global exports of protected plant species between 2016 and 2020 is calculated to be $9.3 billion—roughly five times greater than that of the illicit animal trade—according to the 2022 World Wildlife Trade Report, published by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Through their partnership with Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the garden has been able to expand their preservation efforts. Including collaborating with scientists doing fieldwork on endangered species, networking with conservation organizations, and protecting and propagating the rare and endangered plants in the collections.