Smugglers & Poachers

Three people were arrested for trying to smuggle geckos out of New Zealand. (News source.)

Six people were arrested in South Africa for trading in leopard tortoises. (News source.)

Pythons Stolen

A petting zoo in South Fort Myers had a python stolen from them. (News source.)

Venomous News

The Maryland woman who claimed she was bitten by a loose cobra has been charged by DNR with possession of two venomous snakes. (News source.)

Utah is considering allowing residents to keep rattlesnakes. (News source.)

Australian snakebites are on the rise (News source.); a hiker in Tasmania was bitten by an unidentified snake. (News source.)

Smuggler Jailed

A German man who smuggled lizards out of New Zealand has been jailed for 14 weeks. (News source.)

Snake Poacher

Arizona G&F prosecuted a snake/turtle poacher in 2009. (News source.)

Reptile Zoo Fined

An Ontario serpentarium operator was charged with possession of four native species (some considered endangered in Ontario) and fined $8,000 (CAN). (News source.)

Gopher Tortoise Poaching

Someone has killed and eaten at least 13 gopher tortoises in the Wabasso Scrub Conservation Area (Florida). (News source.)

Smuggled Lizards in His Underwear

Enough said. (News source.)

Missouri Turtle Dealer Sentenced

A Missouri turtle farmer was sentenced for shipping native and endangered species without permit to Japan. (News source.)

Smuggler Caught

A California man was busted for smuggling "two geckos, 11 skinks and two monitor lizards" from Australia, apparently having them strapped to his chest. (News source.)

Smuggler

A man tried to smuggle ball pythons and leopard geckos (and a tarantula) into Norway, but got caught when they searched him. (News source.)

Shingleback Smuggler

A Japanese man was arrested for trying to smuggle shingleback skinks out of Australia. (News source.)

Famous Local Gator Not Poached

The Georgia gator that was feared poached turned up alive, and the carcass has been traced to a suspect. (News source.)

Turtles & the Law

A Massachusetts developer has run into restrictions from box turtle conservation requirements. (News source.)

The US Army wants to relocate 1100 endangered California desert tortoises. (News source.)

The USFWS is reviewing the desert tortoise for possible ESA inclusion. (News source.)

A Canadian turtle keeper was sentenced to nine months in jail for keeping threatened species, mostly Blanding's turtles. (News source.)

Sea turtles and their eggs will be banned for possession, consumption, etc., in the Bahamas soon. (News source.)

Vietnamese officials seized 10 tons of tortoise and pangolin shells smuggled in from Indonesia. (News source.)

Poachers continue to threaten the Madagascar spider tortoise. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Smuggling

Indonesian police seized 45 poached green sea turtles. (News source.)

Smugglers

Two suspected tortoise smugglers have been arrested in London. (News source.)

Sabotage at Croc Farm?

A Singapore croc farm operator found 50 baby crocodiles dead in their pond; police investigation is underway. (News source.)

Crocodile News

A 52-year old Malaysian man survived a crocodile attack. (News source.)

Australian police are searching for thieves who stole 18 young saltwater crocs from a crocodile farm in Darwin. (News source.)

Snake Bites

A Green Bay, Wisconsin, teen was bitten by a captive rattlesnake. It and several other illegally kept venomous snakes were confiscated. (News source.)

A Louisiana firefighter was bitten by a cottonmouth. (News source.)

Turtle Legal Issues

Florida has introduced their new rules on taking freshwater turtles. (News source.)

A Maldives resort could be in trouble for their unlicensed "conservation" project with sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

A nearly $3 million "ecopassage" under a busy Florida highway is mostly to save turtles (and protect motorists), but is controversial in Congress. (News source.)

Polish customs officials arrested a Ukrainian man for smuggling tortoises. (News source.)

A Filipino man was arrested in Malaysia for smuggling/selling turtle eggs. (News source.)

Turtle Woes

About twenty snapping turtles in North Dakota were killed by a bacterial outbreak. (News source.)

Poachers took out four sea turtle nests on Sarasota Co., FL, beaches. (News source.)

Turtle Bust (Baltimore)

Two street vendors were arrested for selling undersized turtles in Baltimore. (News source.)

Poachers

India officials are cracking down on frog poaching. (News source.)

An Indian national was arrested for smuggling turtles and fish. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

A "double-headed snake" was confiscated from poachers in India. (News source.)

Australian authorities confiscated a pair of leopard geckos. (News source.)

Turtle News

Indonesians on the island of Runduma are protecting the local sea turtles now, instead of using their eggs. (News source.)

The rare western pond turtle found in Washington state recently turns out to be an escaped family pet, but the owners probably won't get it back. (News source.)

Emergency fishing regs put into effect banning longlines in the Gulf of Mexico may become permanent. Longlines injure sea turtles and other non-target species. (News source.)

Dead turtles turning up in Menasha, WI, are worrying conservationists. (News source.)

A Florida man was charged with poaching sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

Crimes of a Herpetological Nature

Two suspects in Alabama were arrested for bludgeoning turtles to death. (News source.)

Individuals in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being tricked by con artists into thinking their diseases and illnesses are actually being caused by poisons (from local plants, lizards and toads), requiring payment for healing. (News source.)

Herp Legal Matters

Three men in India were arrested for smuggling 55 tortoises. (News source.)

Texas herpers are trying to get road-hunting legislation passed. (News source.)

An Iowa town has slightly amended their "no constrictors" sales ban. (News source.)

Two pet snakes were confiscated from a home in Hawaii. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Egg Thief

A man has been arrested in Florida for poaching 119 sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

Herp Legality

Florida wildlife officers arrested a man who had a sea turtle in his cooler. (News source.)

The UK is considering easing the captive wild animal regulations a bit. (News source.)

Wildlife officers in India held a man for possessing sand boas illegally. (News source.)

Smugglers Foiled

Australian officials found a shipment of 35 reptiles being smuggled from one state to another. (News source.)

Illegal Corn Snakes

A pair of corn snakes has been confiscated from an Australian hobbyist, and he faces large fines. (News source.)

More Malaysian Herp Smugglers

"Malaysian authorities seized 814 tortoises and 160 king cobras" that were being smuggled under a load of garlic. (News source.)

Rattlesnake Bite Hoax

A woman trying to hide drugs from police said her child had been bitten by a rattlesnake, launching a search effort and medical help. Charges will be filed. (News source.)

When Herpers Go Bad...

The story of Jungle Mike, here.

Conservation News

Mountain chicken frogs are being flown from the Caribbean to the UK in order to protect them from fungal disease. (News source.)

Malaysian wildlife officers seized 210 poached monitor lizards. (News source.)

Gator News

Chinese researchers say the wild population of Chinese alligators in the Yangtze river may increase to 300 in the next 5-10 years. (News source.)

A South Carolina man was charged with possession of a baby alligator, illegal in that state. (News source.)

Border Patrol Agent Busted

A US Border Patrol Agent plead guilty smuggling to smuggling leopard tortoises. (News source.)

Weird Culture

An Indian man was murdered by his wife and her lover when they threw a snake on him while he was sleeping. (News source.)

A female cleric in Kenya was almost attacked when she was discovered carrying a python. (News source.)

An Australian man beat a woman for eating the turtle he had captured. (News source.)

More on Operation Shellshock

Details on the poaching aspect from the pine barrens, here.

Turtle Pick Indictment

A California woman was indicted for illegally imported guitar picks made from hawksbill sea turtle shells. (News source.)

Multi-State Herp Bust

Canada and NY are pushing the p.r. on a recent illegal reptile trade bust; other state's efforts (like Pennsylvania) will probably follow soon. Aspects include smuggling massasaugas across the Canadian border, selling eastern box turtles online, and selling wild-collected snapping turtles from New York to a turtle farm in Louisiana where they were shipped to Asia mixed in with legally farmed turtles. But, of course, the publicity will focus on the "unnatural" aspects of keeping reptiles in general, the "lucrative" and implied widespread business of poaching native species, etc., rather than the very small number of people involved when considering the reptile hobby as a whole.

Details here, here, and here.

Herp Crimes

Three Florida teenagers were charged with poaching alligators. (News source.)

Gassing dens for rattlesnakes is now outlawed in Alabama. (News source.)

A gang of Indian venom smugglers was caught with king cobra venom. (News source.)

Eggs Seized

3000 yellow-spotted river turtle eggs were confiscated by the Colombian navy near the Venezuelan border. (News source.)

Herps in Crime News

Approx. 550 Afghan tortoises were recovered from smugglers in Pakistan. (News source.)

A number of rare mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates were stolen from a warehouse in Australia. (News source.)

An official function in Malaysia has turned into a scandal as illegal sea turtle eggs were served. (News source.)

Lizard Smugglers Caught

Hong Kong Marine Police caught smugglers with 119 lizards. (News source.)

Alabama Retailer Charged

An Alabama man was charged with selling false water cobra to an undercover officer. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

A man tried to smuggle 44 lizards and snakes (including an albino carpet python) out of Australia. (News source.)

An Indian man was caught with over 100 smuggled tortoise skins. (News source.)

Snake Theft

A Kenyan snake exhibitor was robbed of 16 valuable (mostly venomous) snakes. (News source.)

Turtle Issues

South Carolina is looking into legislation to protect the native turtle population from being shipped by the thousands overseas. (News source.)

A Pacific sea turtle database is being brought online. (News source.)

3000 tortoises were confiscated by Indian officials, when they were discovered being smuggled out of Uttar Pradesh. (News source.)

Customs officers at Atlanta's airport seized illegal (CITES) turtle meat and eggs from a passenger. Species not mentioned, but perhaps sea turtle? (News source.)

Herp Crimes

A couple of pet store thieves (took a ball python) have been caught. (News source.)

Ten rare tortoises were stolen from the Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum in Singapore. (News source.) Three men have been charged. (News source.)

And, a Louisiana man was arrested for stealing funds meant for a boy who lost an arm in an alligator attack. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

Someone stole an albino timber rattler and an Ethiopian small-eyed viper from Victoria Reptiles in Florida. (News source.)

Four men in India were arrested for possession of 150 rare tortoises. (News source.)

Python Skin Deal Goes Bad

A Malaysian snakeskin and mineral deal ended up in a hostage situation. (News source.)

Snake Death Investigation

Swaziland rangers (and possibly the police) are interested in who killed a 4 meter long python. (News source.)

Indiana: Snake Thieves Identified

Police are close to busting a group of snake thieves targeting Evansville area pet shops. (News source.)

Herp Legality Issues

Squabbling and lawsuits here between a couple of snake breeders in Iowa.

Snakes seized from a PA petshop will probably be sold.

Turtle Arrest

An Indiana man arrested for selling native turtles claims it was a misunderstanding. (News source.)

Poached Monitors Seized

Malaysian authorities confiscated 600 clouded monitor lizards being smuggled out of the country. (News source.)

Herp Smuggler Sentenced

A 29-year old South African man was sentenced to a year in jail in Madagascar for trying to smuggle out hundreds of small reptiles and amphibians in his coat and luggage. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Deaths in India

Over 3300 olive Ridley sea turtles have been found dead on the coastline of Gahirmatha, suggesting that fishing trawlers are fishing illegally without turtle-exclusion devices. (News source.)

Herp Crimes

Someone attempted to steal a juvenile alligator from a Pennsylvania pet shop. (News source.)

An Alabama breeder of Amazon tree boas was robbed of 22 snakes, with containers. (News source.) [Update: the snakes weren't stolen after all.]

Turtle Fights Back, and Other News

A chef in Hong Kong was bitten on the toe by a softshell turtle as it tried to escape. The chef was hospitalized, and the turtle was returned to a cage for later cooking. (News source.)

Profile here on a Florida turtle hunter facing possible restrictions on the trade there. (News source.)

Two Iowa men were charged with poaching turtles. (News source.)

Herp Legal News

13 geckos were stolen from a North Carolina man's house. Two have been returned, and four people have been arrested. (News source.)

A former Connecticut man is suing police over a $35 fine given (through alleged illegal entry to his home), where they apparently found a 6-7 foot crocodilian or lizard in a tub. The reptile is unidentified (and disappeared after they initially saw it). Probably was just a big monitor. (News source.)

Egg Thieves Arrested

Three men have been arrested for stealing alligator eggs from a Louisiana gator farm. (News source.)

More Crocodilian News

A Florida man was given three years probation for poaching a small alligator. (News source.)

A Malaysian man freed himself twice from an attacking crocodile. (News source.)

Monitors Saved

Two separate raids by Malaysian officials saved 7,093 clouded monitor lizards from the illegal food trade. Not sure what they did with the lizards... (News source.)

Herp Legality

Officials (in India, I think) seized poached monitor lizards. (News source.)

Indian officials also seized 200 poached tortoises. (News source.)

Malaysian officials seized 10,000 poached turtle eggs. (Well, not poached like that...) (News source.)

A Utah man faces DWR in court over a number of rubber boas that were seized and died in DWR hands. (News source.)

Snake Charmer Arrested

A snake charmer in India was arrested when his cobra (partly defanged) bit a man who tried to hold it. Fortunately, the man was not envenomated. (News source.)

Crocodiles in the News

A couple in India was injured by a crocodile after it first attacked the woman, and was fought off by her husband. (News source.)

A tourism minister in Australia claims that urban crocs are good for tourism. (News source.)

A teenager has been arrested for killing a North American crocodile on the University of Miami campus. (News source.)

Crocodile farming is still controversial in Thailand. (News source.)

2-Headed Turtle Stolen

Another two-headed turtle has been stolen, this one from a Canadian pet shop. (News source.)

[Update: Turtle returned.]

Turtle Troubles

A man was sentenced for purchasing an illegally poached sea turtle for meat in the Caymans. (News source.)

A New Zealand animal rescue is running out of room for injured animals because of the number of turtles being dropped off -- the owners claim they never knew the turtles would grow. (News source.)

Poached Reptiles Seized

Malaysian officers confiscated 1,272 live reptiles destined for the illegal food market. (News source.)

NZ Zoo Theft

A New Zealand zoo was victim to a smash and grab heist. Two day geckos and two bearded dragons were stolen. (News source.)

Dumb (Herp) Criminal of the Month.

Right here.

Nepali Turtle Scam

A strange scam involving turtle worship in order to get rich has broken out in Mysore, India, near Nepal. (News source.)

Herp Conservation News

Weather conditions this year were beneficial for the successful breeding of the endangered Mississippi gopher frog. (News source.)

Thailand wildlife officers seized 200 monitor lizards being smuggled out to the illegal food markets. (News source.)

North Carolina bought 40 acres to preserve as bog turtle habitat. (News source.)

Snakes & Crime

An Oklahoma man who stole a python and tortoise from a zoo ended up getting himself arrested when he returned to the zoo to ask employees how to care for the reptiles. (News source.)

An Ohio woman ended up in trouble for owning an 8-foot boa in a county that only allows constrictors up to 5 feet. (Chalk one up for dumb laws.) (News source.)

Zoo Python Stolen

A Norman, OK, zoo has had its albino Burmese python stolen for the second time in 10 days. (News source.)

More on Croc Crimes

A civil suit seems likely against the parents of the 7-year old boy who broke into an Australian reptile farm and raised havoc. (News source.)

Two Florida men apparently stole 4 alligators and a New Guinea crocodile from an alligator farm. (News source.)

Crocodile Crimes

A 7-year old boy broke into an Australian reptile farm and fed numerous reptiles to a saltwater crocodile. He was caught on tape, but can't be charged due to his age. (News source.) [His parents, though, should be sued for the damages...]

An American crocodile was found butchered on the University of Miami campus. (News source.)

Smugglers Caught

Malaysian officials confiscated 3000 turtle eggs being smuggled into the country. (News source.)

Smuggling into Australia

Five baby pythons (at least one was a green tree python, based on photograph) and a couple of South American tarantulas were confiscated and killed by Australian customs when an American tried to ship them in as "toys and shirts." (News source.)

Smuggler Arrest

Three Japanese men were arrested in Australia for trying to smuggle out a couple of lizards. (News source.)

Croc News

An article here on alligator hunting in South Carolina.

South African crocodile farms are becoming big business. (News source.) But, along with that are dubious products marketed from crocodile fat making extravagant claims on their natural healing properties. (News source.)

Watchcroc

An Australian crocodile farm is going to up the ante on repeated thefts of croc skins and skulls, by using a crocodile as a watchdog. (News source.)

Zoo News

Zulu Croc World opens soon in South Africa. (News source.)

A South African snake park was robbed by three armed men. (News source.)

Turtles

Hurricane Gustav didn't do sea turtle nests in the Gulf of Mexico any favors. (News source.)

Poachers are targeting Sumatran turtles. (News source.)

A sea turtle conservation center off the Bali coast is trying to educate fishermen who otherwise catch and sell sea turtles. (News source.)

Lizard Meat Sold As Croc

Six Hong Kong businessmen were fined for selling lizard and snake meat as crocodile meat. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Poachers

A group of Vietnamese sea turtle poachers was caught in Philippine waters. (News source.)

Tortoise Crime

A British national was caught illegally possessing two tortoises in Cameroon. (News source.)

Smugglers Caught

Kenya authorities caught two men trying to smuggle 113 live snakes to Japan. (News source.)

Two-Headed Turtle Theft

Not long after publicity started about a small two-headed turtle on display in NY, someone snatched it. (News source.)

Philippines Turtle Egg Poaching

230 turtle eggs were seized at a Philippines market; the vendors were let off with a warning. (News source.)

Poachers Caught

When a lorry in Malaysia had an accident, it exposed more than 200 boxed illegally captured reptiles headed for a restaurant. (News source.)

Turtle News

Indian star tortoises continue to be a prime target for smugglers. (News source.)

Politicians and scientists are arguing over the best plan for the eastern spiny soft-shell turtle in Lake Champlain. (News source.)

Problems with Prosecution

Prosecuting cases of gopher tortoise killings by developers in Florida can be frustrating. Details here.

Turtle News

Archaeological evidence shows that Hermann's tortoises were prey to early hunters in Spain. (News source.)

Seven men in Mexico were arrested for poaching 9000 sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

Baltimore Bust

A Baltimore, MD, man was charged with illegal possession of some native species (eastern hognose, timber rattlesnake) and attempting to sell copperheads. (News source.)

Smugglers Intercepted

2 tons of live snakes and 770 kg of tortoises were intercepted in Vietnam before they could be taken into China. (News source.)

Turtle Helps Police

NPS employees followed a GPS-outfitted box turtle to a marijuana crop at Rock Creek Park. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Egg Poaching

The Florida nest of a loggerhead sea turtle was torn open and the eggs poached. Other nests were also disturbed and possibly robbed. (News source.)