Iguana Crime

Six endangered blue iguanas were killed at a captive-breeding center in the Cayman Islands. The animals were stomped and mutilated, and police are investigating. (News source.)

Stolen Croc Found (Uganda)

A young crocodile stolen from a conservation education center in Uganda was found abandoned at the airport. (News source.)

Black Market Tortoises

Here is an article on a black market in Bangkok with very rare tortoises.

Smuggler Sentenced

A Mexican man was sentenced to 16 months in prison and 3 years supervised release by a US federal court for smuggling sea turtle products. (News source.)

Turtle Poaching

Missouri game officers arrested several men for poaching turtles. (News source.)

Lizard Smuggling

3000 chameleons and 350 other lizards were confiscated from two men at a Yemen airport. (News source.)

Snake Smuggler Fined

An Australian man was fined $15,000 for attempting to take 10 cornsnakes and two Burmese pythons through an airport. The snakes, of course, were destroyed. (They couldn't take $100 of the fine and send the snakes back out of country?) (News source.)

Egg Poacher Caught

Malaysian police caught a man trying to sell 300 illegal turtle eggs. (News source.)

Salamander Poaching

Rangers at Cleveland (OH) Metroparks are investigating a salamander trap found in one of their ponds. They're immediately blaming the pet trade, of course, with no mention at all on the more obvious culprit. Salamanders are commonly used as fishing bait... (News source.)

Smuggled in Books

A couple of packages intercepted in the mail from Australia to the Czech Republic turned out to hold hollowed-out books with native Australian geckos. (News source.)

Smuggling Beardies

A Dutch passenger was caught trying to smuggle 16 small bearded dragons through an airport in Spain. No word on where they came from. (News source.)

Lizards Saved

Malaysian wildlife officers rescued 222 endangered monitor lizards poached for the meat trade. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

The UK mastermind of an illegal tortoise smuggling ring has been charged. (News source.)

A couple of snakes were stolen from Flamingo Gardens in Florida. (News source.)

A woman who stole a young boa constrictor from a Michigan pet shop has returned the snake. (News source.)

Crocs Stolen

18 baby saltwater crocodiles were stolen from a Darwin, Australia, crocodile farm. (News source.)

Python Smuggling

A Victoria, Australia, man is charged with smuggling four "endangered" pythons in from South Africa. (The news report states they are believed to be green tree pythons -- which aren't native to South Africa.) And, of course, the idiots in customs there plan to destroy the snakes. (News source.)

Snake Soup Crime

A Korean man was arrested for buying soup made from illegally caught wild snakes. It is legal in Korea to raise snakes for soup, but not to catch them in the wild. (News source.)

Crocodilian Poaching

A news report out of Brazil says that 740 "alligator" corpses were found slaughtered in a nature reserve in the Amazon. (Alligators aren't found in Brazil, so they're either crocodiles or, more likely, caiman.) The reptiles had been skinned and salted, stashed away to later be sold for meat. Officials incinerated the bodies. The poachers weren't caught. (News source.)

Norway Caiman Returned

The dwarf caiman stolen from a Norwegian aquarium was returned; the thief was a reptile enthusiast (part of this site, it looks like) who claimed the animal was kept in poor conditions. (News source.)

Legal Trouble

First, a Kentucky man's home was raided, and numerous prohibited reptiles confiscated. Meanwhile, he was in the hospital for a snakebite. (News source.)

A Roanoke, VA, family gave up their illegal 6-foot Nile crocodile. (News source.)

Dwarf Croc Stolen

A Norway aquarium lost its dwarf caiman (Paleosuchus trigonatus) to thieves. (News source.)

They're offering an approx. $4900 reward for a reptile they claim is worth about $2000 on the legal market. (Not sure where they get that info, as they're sold for about $300 or so here in the US...)

Fer-de-lance Stolen

Someone either knew what they were doing, or is in for a nasty surprise. A boxed up fer-de-lance (very dangerous) was stolen from a vehicle parked at a Vermont Wal-mart. (News source.)

Snake Vodka "Misunderstood"

The Texas rancher charged with selling bottled snakes-in-vodka says they are Asian elixers, not for alcoholic consumption, and claims the furor was caused by "tree-huggers." Yeah, right. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

A Chinese student was charged with buying two Burmese pythons (protected in that country) and then selling them. (News source.)

Texas agents confiscated 411 vodka bottles from a ranch; each bottle contained both vodka and a small venomous snake. The ranch owner is (or was) a major exporter of turtles, so apparently these were also going to the Asian market. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Sentencing

A Micronesian woman awaits sentencing for purchasing a green sea turtle for consumption. (News source.)

Tortoise Smuggling

A crate of 9 tortoises were confiscated in Israel, apparently having been smuggled in (possibly just a waystop on their way elsewhere). (News source.)

India: Varanid Poaching

Two Hakki Pikki tribe members were busted selling monitor lizards for meat by a CID officers. (News source.)

PNG Antivenom Debacle Continues

Remarks made by a PNG pharmacy director (defending his company's sale of India antivenom for PNG species) have been ridiculed by herpetologists and toxinologists. (News source.)

Venom Smuggling

Bangladesh officers arrested four traders with 12 lbs of cobra venom. It appeared to have been smuggled into the area. The traders were trying to sell it locally. (News source.)

Turtle News

71 poached Asian box turtles were released into the wild in the Philippines. (News source.)

Illegal fishing trawlers are entangling sea turtles, leaving them to die on the beaches of India's Gahirmatha marine sanctuary. Police have been asked to help with patrols. (News source.)

Pet Store Robbery

A Tennessee pet shop was robbed by a man who took off with cash receipts and 13 snakes (pythons, boas, and corn snakes). (News source.)

Lizards for Dinner

India police have raided several roadside restaurants, finding lizards being served illegally (spiny-tailed lizards and monitor lizards). (News source.)

Smugglers and Poachers

Pakistani wildlife officers found a partially skinned crocodile (protected) along a road in DHA. It was uncertain whether the reptile had been hunted in the wild or stolen from a breeding center. (News source.)

Two tortoise smugglers were shot and killed, three others got away, in an encounter with police in India. (News source.)

Smuggler Indicted

A Chico, CA, man and an unknown conspirator in Singapore have been indicted in federal court for trafficking in smuggled tortoises. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Smuggler in Court

A Chinese national pleaded guilty in US Federal Court to smuggling hawksbill sea turtle shells (and items made from the shells). (News source.)

Albino Alligators Stolen

Seven rare albino alligators were stolen from Federal University's zoo in Matto Grosso, Brazil. (News source.)

Snake Venom Trade

India is reporting a thriving illegal market in snake venom, though it is uncertain why anyone is buying it. There may be a drug-connected use. (News source.)

Tortoise Smuggling

657 star tortoises were discovered being smuggled through Chennai airport. (News source.)

Croc Farm Targeted

Thieves have hit a South African crocodile farm, with several small crocodiles and building materials being taken. (News source.)

Murder by Cobra

A man in India was sentenced to life today for killing his 2nd wife (of whom his current 1st wife knew nothing about) with a cobra in the bed. The snake charmer who sold it to him, and suggested the plot, was also sentenced to life. (News source.)

Croc News

The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust has hatched six Cuvier's dwarf caiman, the first time for that species in South Asia. (News source.)

The Taiwanese veterinarian who lost his arm to a crocodile has had it reattached. (News source.)

A Russian crocodile smuggler was caught red-handed at the Cairo International Airport with baby crocs, turtles, and lizards. He was deported, and the animals confiscated. (News source.)

Smuggling to Ireland

A package of various common pet-store arachnids and herps from a US pet shop was confiscated by Irish customs. The package was labeled "aquatic plants." (News source.)

Tortoise Product Smugglers

Punjab, Pakistan, wildlife officials confiscated 26 cartons of smuggled tortoise meat and 5 bags of shells. (News source.)

Gopher Tortoise Crime

Two Indiantown, FL, men were caught trespassing on private land and injuring a gopher tortoise. (News source.)

Smuggler Pleads Guilty

A San Francisco pet shop owner has plead guilty to smuggling baby Fly River turtles from Australia. (News source.)

Iguanas Attacked

Someone is shooting their crossbow at feral iguanas in Cape Coral, Florida. (News source.)

Fishermen Detained

19 Chinese fishermen have been detained since August for allegedly poaching sea turtles in Philippine waters. (News source.)

Mutilated Sea Turtle

A dead mutilated flatback turtle was found on a Western Australian beach. Police are investigating. (News source.)

Marianas Sea Turtle Arrest

A Micronesian man was arrested for possession of a green sea turtle. (News source.)

Smuggled Reptiles

6 Bangledeshi nationals were arrested for possession (on the wrong side of the India border, it looks like) of 10 endangered reptiles: king cobras and elongated tortoises. (News source.)

Man Charged with Intent to Lick

A 21-year old Kansas City man was charged with possessing a Colorado River toad, with intent to lick it for hallucinogenic purposes. (News source.)

Hong Kong Herp Crimes

First, two men and a woman were arrested for selling mislabeled crocodile meat, punishable by up to 5 years in jail and a $500,000 fine. Monitor lizard and snake meat is often sold as crocodile meat. (News source.)

A smuggler was caught bringing in 15 snakes and 22 lizards from Indonesia, mostly baby pythons and monitors. (News source.)

Michigan Thieves Caught

Turns out that the thieves of reptiles, birds, and other exotic animals that hit the Belleville, MI, Animal Magic sanctuary and some specialty pet shops a while back are a couple of Livonia, MI, guys who run their own animal education programs (thoseanimalguys.com). Many animals were recovered, but some apparently had been sold off earlier. (News source.)

Snakes Seized

Malaysian wildlife officers seized 115 cobras from a trader. (News source.)

[I can't tell what exactly the charges would be; he apparently only declared 1400 snakes, but had over 1500. So are the 115 cobras just what he underdeclared, or specifically illegal in and of themselves? There were some animal cruelty charges, also, due to caging conditions. I'm guessing the snakes were headed to the Chinese food markets.]

Vietnam Turtle Poachers Caught

A truck carrying turtles and snakes was intercepted by forest rangers in Quang Binh province, Vietnam. (News source.)

Timber Crime

A Muncie, Indiana, man was charged with possession and transportation of a package of baby timber rattlesnakes after carrying them on a public bus. (News source.)

Australian Croc Killed

Two Australian boys and a twenty-three year old man have been charged with killing a 6-foot crocodile. (News source.)

Australia Woman Charged

A woman in Victoria, Australia, has been charged with keeping two native species without permits, and a boa constrictor. (News source.)

Snake Park Robbed

A man who runs a small snake park in the village of Kongoni, Kenya, was robbed of 15 venomous snakes. An attempt was made to take a Nile crocodile, but it warded off the attack (blood was found in its pool in the morning). (News source.)

Illegal Pets

An Australian woman was charged with keeping a diamond python and carpet python without a permit in Darwin. (News source.)