keeping illegaly

[Hickson]

So what about the people who are allowed to keep these animals "legally"? And there are quite a few. Are they "more" responsible than anyone else? Are they the only people who are capable of following the strict guidelines that are imposed on them?

NSW DEC spoke at the last meeting of the Macarthur Herp Society, and said that in NSW there are only 15 exotic licenses. They were issued under the 1997 amnesty. As for those people being more responsible, or following the strict guidlines, that remains to be seen. I know of one instance where the licensee completely ignored the terms of his license, and I've heard of many other instances where this happens too.

As for diseases, we have OPMV, IBD and Reovirus here now, and they weren't in this country 5 years ago. Obviously some reptiles have been smuggled into the country in the last few years.



Hix