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.)

Croc News

A Frenchman and Burundi resident is trying to hunt down Gustave, that country's infamous killer crocodile. (News source.)

A Uganda minister is trying to make it legal for residents to kill (and eat) crocodiles, which are a constant danger in that country. (News source.)

Mugger crocs in Iran are seriously on the decline due to poaching and habitat loss. (News source.)

A well-known large American crocodile, Wilma, on Sanibel, has been found dead. (News source.)

Snake Poacher

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

Gopher Tortoise Poaching

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

Poachers Kill Gator

A 9-foot gator was killed by poachers in Evans, Georgia. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Smuggling

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

Poachers

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

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

Sea Turtle Egg Thief

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

More on Operation Shellshock

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

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.)

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.)

Herp Legality News

Hard to believe that there are still ignorant herp laws out there, but a 3-foot ball python was recently confiscated from a Sioux City, Iowa, home. (News source.)

On a more positive note, a Delaware county is proposing to allow (small) snakes to be bred by residents. (News source.)

In Malaysia, 2300 monitor lizards were confiscated from poachers. (News source.)

Poached Monitors Seized

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

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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

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.)

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.)

Crocodilians in the News

South African crocs are being hit with a mystery ailment. (News source.)

Sri Lanka officials seized crocodile meat from a poacher. (News source.)

Alligator egg collection for Florida's alligator farms is in progress. (News source.)

Croc News

A Florida man was caught poaching alligator eggs. (News source.)

A Bangladesh crocodile farm is becoming successful. (News source.)

Turtle Eggs Poached

Brunei officials seized 2900 turtle eggs poached and smuggled in from another country. (News source.)

More on Turtle Egg Poaching

Malaysian officials are increasing patrols after 4000 sea turtle eggs were poached from nesting sites along the coast. (News source.)

Vietnam Smuggling

Vietnam officials intercepted a ton of live monitor lizards headed for China. (News source.)

Black Market Tortoises

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

Turtle Poaching

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

Lizards Saved

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

Sea Turtle Sentencing

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

India: Varanid Poaching

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

Cambodian Turtle Rescue

150+ "threatened" turtles were rescued from Cambodian fishermen. They were caught for food. Species was not given, but I suspect sea turtles... (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.)

Fishermen Detained

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

Vietnam Turtle Poachers Caught

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

Turtle Poaching

Two Ontario men were caught poaching snapping turtles. (News source.)

Croc Poaching

State forest officials in Gujarat, India, say that they have found the carcass of a crocodile clubbed to death by poachers. (News source.)

Egg Poaching

Six men and women have been arrested in Mexico for poaching 52,000 sea turtle eggs. (News source.)

Sea Turtle Poaching

Poachers killed a green sea turtle in the Cayman Islands, and face jail if they are caught. The turtle was butchered and its eggs were taken. (News source.)

Chinese Frog Poaching

Hunters are illegally taking tiger frogs and other species for the meat market, and Chinese researchers say this could lead to extinction for some species. (News source.)

Galapagos Tortoise Poaching

Eight shells have been found by Galapagos Island rangers, who believe the tortoises were slaughtered by poachers for meat. Five were young tortoises up to 15 years of age, some of which spent the first several years being reared in captivity. (News source.)

Poached Turtles

17 out of 270 sea turtles illegally poached by Chinese fishermen and confiscatedd by authorities are now at the Sabah Museum in Malaysia. The specimens include green and hawksbill sea turtles. (News source.)

Poached Gator Eggs

A central Florida man was caught poaching alligator eggs on the St. Johns River. (News source.)