Is this legal ?

It is legal to buy wild caught arachnids, but the draw back with wild caught arachnids is diseases.

All my arachnids are cp and healthy where wc doing at your own risk same with snakes.

Thats a camel spider alright and the stories are some what over exagerated.
The can run at 10mph and bite through chicken wire but as for the bites that go septic i'm afriad theres no proof of it being anything more than an infection.
The spider isn't a spider as mary said but an ancient creature from a time before true spiders,.
They are completly legal as technically they are no more dangerous than say a desert hairy scorpion. As for who would want to keep them i suppose it takes all types

Hi Vikki,
Like I mentioned in my first comment about the Camel Spider,they are classed as neither true spiders nor scorpions and lack poisonous glands.
There are about 1,000 species in 12 families and most are found in either North America or in the Tropics (probably your one that you've mentioned).
Because they lack the venom,they actually kill and chew up their prey with their large pincer like jaws.
When you are next in your reptile shop,try and get the spider's latin name and I'll look that individual up,out of interest.
As for the Dangerous Animals licence,most are only applicable to zoo's and such private collectors who have to be both inspected and registered with the local authoritoes and undergo regular inspections and keep any such creature in a specific enclosure to ensure public safety.Local reptile and pet shops should not be selling any venomous creatures and if such animals are seen for sale,then the vendor should be reported to the necessary authorities,for this to be checked out and to see wether or not they themselves hold the correct licence's,etc.
I myself wouldn't own a dangerous,aggressive spider or reptile as 1. I am not qualified or trained to safely handle such an animal and 2. it's just not worth the risk.
Try and find that name of that one that you saw anyway.

I don't know if we mean the same spider Mary. The one I've seen is found in Afghanistan and Arabia, is it the same as the South African one ? The site says that they are aggressive and will bite without provocation !
I'm a bit confused with things like that, because a few of the reptiles and insects in the pet shop I go in quite frequently, are aggressive by nature, and will bite without any need to, and I don't really see the point in owning one. Like the jungle runner lizard - they look like really nice pets to have, a bit like a monitor, but they're aggressive, so all you can do is watch them, and most of the time you can't even do that because of course they're mostly curled up in one of their hides. I don't know, it's probably just me, being used to wanting to handle everything !
I knew you had to have a dangerous reptile licence to own something like a caiman, but I agree with Marvetta in that if they're so dangerous, why keep them ? You risk having your arm chewed off every time you feed them ! What are the requirements for one of these licences, do you just have to have experience with owning similar creatures, or is it more than that ?
I don't know much about these things, but I would've thought you would have been more likely to be allowed to keep more endangered species, because they live for longer in the wild and can be put into breeding programmes to keep the population up. Apparently hamsters are endangered in the wild, but is this because of people capturing them, or is it because they're not well-equipped to survive in the wild any more, and if we didn't keep captive ones, the whole hamster population would've almost died out ?

when i said daughters obviously i was refering to the breeders animals not the breeders themselves lol it just read back weird/.

Short answer 'yes' like the other members have said importers need lcenses and everything has to be declared and some species are regarded under worldwide protection like the australian two headed python.
In most cases captive bred animals are the best choice as they are free from parasites etc but from a breeders point of view you need fresh blood in a stale populaion, most corn snakes are so over bred you can almost always find a cousin of yours in any store as most come from daughters of well known worldwide breeders like cathy love.

The information on importing animals into the uk is on Defras site.
The importer does have to be licenced to import and there is a limit to what can be imported. This is where CITES also gets involved, as they have the say into whether the species is endanger, if so the animals should not be caught for captivity..
Some species do need a licence to keep if they are classed as dangerous . Some spiders are on this list, including the funnel web family and the black widow family and hybrids of the species. Also wandering spiders. I don't beileve these species should be kept at all never mind handing out licences, if they are that dangerous.

There are restrictions as to what the UK allows in to this country regarding Exotic pets and from where they come from,so as to try and prevent wild captured specimens being sold as captive bred..but it's a minefield and I am not too hot on such details of imports.
Regarding the 'African Camel Spider',it is actually considered a relative of the spider and is also known as the 'Sun Spider','Wind Scorpion' and solifugids.
The females grow up to 40mm and the males 30mm,they do not create any web and are more active during the summertime.They live in dry,sandy and stony areas of South Africa and usually hunt their prey at night.
As you say,they are fast running creature's with huge forward projecting jaws and although it is said that they can kill camels - this is actually a complete myth.
Because of their long slender legs and many hairs,when they run,they are said to resemble a fluffy ball (cute) and they are not venomous to humans although any bite from a spider can result in a nasty reaction,depending on the person's metabolism and blood chemistry,etc.I have thank fully never had the misfortune of being bitten by any of my spiders or indeed any spider...but I don't fancy trying it out and take steps to avoid such a misfortune (ha-ha).
Incidentally there are a large number of other species of 'Camel Spider' worldwide but the one mentioned above is the most noted and common.
Would I like one...?????.I'm open minded I suppose,given the right terrarium and secure fitting lid (as always)..having one wouldn't be so bad,as they are not considered human aggressive like some spiders and Tarantulas,but I have never seen any for sale at my two reptile shops in Plymouth and know of no one that has owned one either.
I think I'll stick with my 6....for now (ha-ha).