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Old May 3rd, 2009 #65
Alex Linder
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Deadly snake caught before slipping onto plane



One of the world’s most poisonous snakes was discovered in a haul of 35 animals being smuggled onto a Sydney-bound flight.

Australian wildlife authorities found a Pilbara death adder when they seized the animals at Perth airport in Western Australia on Saturday.

The haul, worth up to $AU40,000 on the black market, also included 11 Banded knob-tailed geckos, 2 Rock dragon lizards, a blue-tongue lizard and a Pgymy python.

A New South Wales man has been charged with attempting to export protected fauna without a licence and the unlawful possession of protected fauna.

All of the reptiles found are native to the state of Western Australia, with most found only in the Outback regions of the Pilbara and Kimberleys.

WA Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) senior investigator, Rick Dawson said the Pilbara death adder was a widely sought-after species and worth about $AU2000 to animal traffickers.

“Two-thirds of the reptiles in Australia are found in Western Australia, where the dry, hot landscape lends itself well to these creatures,” Dawson told The Times.

“Reptile thieves are often seen patrolling the outskirts of the Pilbara, where members of the public will spot them acting suspiciously and notify us.”

Mr Dawson said Australian reptiles were big business on black markets in Europe, the United States and Japan.

In 2003, a British wildlife film producer and conservationist Michael Linley pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle 187 frogs and reptiles out of Australia.

Mr Linley, who produced the television series Survival and has written several books on amphibians, was arrested at Perth airport after customs officials found 217 animals of 27 different species, worth US$178,000, in his suitcases.

Mr Linley told Perth Magistrates Court he wanted to use the animals in one of his films. He was fined $AU30,000.

Earlier this month Qantas was forced to ground one of its fleet while wildlife experts tried to hunt down four snakes on a plane.

Twelve baby Stimpson’s pythons had been put on board a flight from Alice Springs to Melbourne, but when the box of reptiles was unloaded at the other end only eight snakes were found inside.

A reptile expert searched for the 6-inch snakes, which can grow up to a metre-long, but could not find them. It was still unknown if the snakes were on the plane or if they had somehow escaped disembarked once the plane landed.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6203230.ece