A woman has been fined $20,000 after wildlife officers found dozens of native reptiles and eggs in dire condition at her home in rural Queensland.
Earlier this year on January 14, a community member alerted authorities over a matter that led to wildlife officers and investigators searching the woman’s home in Nambour, north-west of the Sunshine Coast.
There, they found and seized 26 reptiles, including a northern blue-tongued lizard, a woma python, a shingleback lizard, an inland bearded dragon and a broad-shelled turtle.
They also found 18 reptile eggs.
An independent examination of the animals revealed medical concerns including the death of body tissue, dehydration, neurological defects and poor health in some of the kept animals.
“Sadly, several of the reptiles were in poor condition and needed to be humanely euthanised,” senior wildlife officer Jonathan McDonald said.
“The surviving reptiles can never be released to the wild as they may have been exposed to disease while they were in captivity.”
According to Queensland’s Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, the woman admitted to knowingly keeping the animals without a valid licence, buying animals from unlicensed sellers and operating a reptile business.
She could not provide mandatory records of sale for 13 reptiles she had bought.
The woman was charged with four offences of keeping native wildlife reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully taken.
This month, she avoided conviction in court but was fined $20,000 and ordered to pay more than $1600 in legal and court fees.
In the sentencing, the magistrate considered the woman’s history, her knowledge that her acts were illegal and the protected status of some of the animals at her home which was used to support a harsher penalty.
The Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation said the matter served as a warning to others.
“There is an increasing trend in people seeking to profit from high prices that our unique wildlife fetch on domestic and international markets,” McDonald said.
“Illegal wildlife trafficking is estimated to be worth $27 billion a year globally and now ranks fourth in terms of the world’s illegal trades after drugs, counterfeit products and human trafficking.”