slim6y
Almost Legendary
Published On: 5-26-2010
Source: The Courier Mail
Finally - people getting caught!
A MAN who poked a forked tongue at the law has been fined $4500 for taking snakes and other reptiles from national parks in Queensland's far north.
Rhys Bernard Livens has pleaded guilty in the Cairns Magistrates Court to nine charges under the Nature Conservation Act.
Some of the charges relate to the discovery of seven carpet pythons, three water pythons and a spotted python at his home in October 2008.
They were taken from various locations, including the Barron Gorge and Lakefield national parks.
In 2009, authorities went back to the man's Cairns home and found more reptiles - two chameleon geckos, a carpet python, an amethystine python, a northern velvet gecko and two thick-tailed geckos.
He admitted taking all of the animals from the wild.
Magistrate Jane Bentley fined Livens $3500 for the 2008 offences and $1000 for the 2009 offences.
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No conviction was recorded.
Sustainability Minister Annastacia Palasczcuk said the case was a warning to others not to take native animals from the wild.
``They can't be released back into their natural environment because it cannot be verified whether they picked up diseases during their time in captivity,'' she said.
Livens admitted to catching hundreds of snakes over a long period of time, but said he only kept a small selection.
Go to Original Article
Source: The Courier Mail
Finally - people getting caught!
A MAN who poked a forked tongue at the law has been fined $4500 for taking snakes and other reptiles from national parks in Queensland's far north.
Rhys Bernard Livens has pleaded guilty in the Cairns Magistrates Court to nine charges under the Nature Conservation Act.
Some of the charges relate to the discovery of seven carpet pythons, three water pythons and a spotted python at his home in October 2008.
They were taken from various locations, including the Barron Gorge and Lakefield national parks.
In 2009, authorities went back to the man's Cairns home and found more reptiles - two chameleon geckos, a carpet python, an amethystine python, a northern velvet gecko and two thick-tailed geckos.
He admitted taking all of the animals from the wild.
Magistrate Jane Bentley fined Livens $3500 for the 2008 offences and $1000 for the 2009 offences.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
No conviction was recorded.
Sustainability Minister Annastacia Palasczcuk said the case was a warning to others not to take native animals from the wild.
``They can't be released back into their natural environment because it cannot be verified whether they picked up diseases during their time in captivity,'' she said.
Livens admitted to catching hundreds of snakes over a long period of time, but said he only kept a small selection.
Go to Original Article
