Immigrants Stealing Succulents from State Parks, Harming Ecosystem

Foreign nationals, primarily from Asia, are reportedly disrupting West Coast ecosystems by arriving in the United States and stealing succulent plants from U.S. state parks.

A detailed report by the Washington Post reveals how foreign nationals from Asia are increasingly coming to the U.S. to rip succulent plants out of the ground at state parks to sell them in their home countries of South Korea, China, and Japan.

The Post noted the most recent case in which wildlife detectives caught three South Korean nationals stealing succulents after arriving in the U.S.:...

Now, environmental and wildlife experts are worried the stealing of thousands of succulents on the West Coast by foreign nationals, who sell the plants back in their native countries, will disrupt ecosystems and potentially lead to the extinction of particular plants like the Dudleya, which helps fight erosion in California....