Daily Reptile News

2 foreigners sent to NZ prison for hunting lizards

Two men, from Switzerland and Mexico, were sentenced to prison in New Zealand on Monday for hunting and possessing protected native lizards in a case the judge said was akin to ivory smuggling.

The men were sentenced to six months in jail, but District Court Judge Raoul Neave reduced their terms to 18 weeks because they pleaded guilty to charges under New Zealand’s Wildlife Act.

In his sentencing remarks, Neave said wildlife was endangered around the world and the men’s actions were no different from the crimes of ivory hunters.

Thomas Benjamin Price, 31, a stockbroker from Gallen, Switzerland, and Gustavo Eduardo Toledo-Albarran, 28, a chef from Carranza, Mexico, arrived in New Zealand in early February and traveled to Otago Peninsula on South Island.

Toledo-Albarran spent five days searching for the lizards, the court heard. Price admitted possessing the lizards and Toledo-Albarran admitted illegally hunting them. They passed the reptiles to Manfred Walter Bachmann so he could smuggle them out of the country.

Bachmann, an engineer from Uganda who is originally from Germany, was caught with 13 adult lizards and three young reptiles in the southern city of Christchurch on Feb. 16. He was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison and deportation on release.

In a separate case, another German national, Hans Kurt Kubus, was caught at Christchurch International Airport late last year with 44 small lizards stuffed into his underwear as he tried to board a flight.

Kubus was sentenced in January to 14 weeks behind bars and ordered to pay a 5,000 New Zealand dollar ($3,540) fine. He will be deported to Germany at the end of his prison term.

New Zealand officials have warned that black market demand is driving bids to smuggle wildlife like the small native lizards, which can fetch up to 2,800 euros ($3,760) each. The country recently ordered a review of laws covering protected wildlife and is considering longer prison terms and higher fines.

Snakes, rats rescued in Holly Hill fire

Three cobras and scores of rats were saved from the flames of a burning Holly Hill commercial building early Saturday, officials said.

Firefighters from Holly Hill, Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and Volusia County Fire Services were called out to battle the fire at 3:47 a.m., Holly Hill Chief Ron Spencer said.

Flames were shooting through the roof and nearly half of the building was on fire in the 1100 block of State Avenue.

“One of the units had three cobras in cages,” Spencer said. “They were owned by a licensed snake handler, but we confirmed through (the) Florida Fish and Wildlife (Commission) that he was not licensed to have the snakes there.”

The tenant of that unit allowed the snakes’ owner to keep the reptiles there, Spencer said. The tenant owned many rats, which were kept in cages and bins.

“Many of the rats were dead, but many were alive,” Spencer said. The owner of the rats was also permitted to remove his live animals.

Of the seven units, three were severely damaged, the chief said. Most of the damage occurred at Auto Repair and Customs Shop, according to fire reports.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

While no official damage estimate has been given, Spencer said it’s likely to be about $150,000.

3-year-old bitten by baby rattlesnake at OC school

TUSTIN, Calif.—Authorities say a 3-year-old Orange County boy is in stable condition at a hospital after being bitten by a baby rattlesnake.

Tustin Unified School District spokesman Mark Eliot said Friday that the boy was bitten during a lunch break this week at Ladera Elementary School where he attends preschool.

Eliot says the boy picked up the baby rattlesnake next to a trash can near the playground. He dropped it, reached down to pick it up again and was bitten.

A teacher’s aide saw it happen and threw a trash can over the snake.

Eliot says paramedics took the boy to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo because it had the necessary anti-venom.

He says the boy has a swollen hand but is otherwise doing OK.

Rapid City reptile park readies for first spring visitors


Reptile Gardens has been a staple of the Black Hills family entertainment industry for decades, drawing thousands of visitors each year to view exotic animals up close. With just days to go before the park’s season opening, staff are eagerly anticipating the upcoming flood of visitors.
Reptile Gardens family attraction Black Hills
“We’re always excited to kick off the season and welcome guests back to the park,” said John Brockelsby, public relations director at the Rapid City attraction. “Reptile Gardens provides a unique opportunity for kids of all ages to interact with rare animals. It’s a great adventure for the whole family, and we’re proud to offer that.”

Housing more species of reptiles than any other zoo or park in the world, Reptile Gardens is one of the most popular family attractions in the Midwest. In addition to their famed reptile collection, the park boasts an array of tropical birds, a prairie dog town, and the Sky Dome and Safari Room, where visitors can walk among free-roaming birds and reptiles.

Open April through December each year, the expert keepers at Reptile Gardens stay busy year-round caring for the park’s collection of tropical animals. They even found time this past winter to make some renovations to the park’s facilities.

“Look for updates to the Safari Room, Snake Show Arena, and gift shop,” Brockelsby said. “We continually update and add new features to the park to make sure our guests have one-of-a-kind experience.”

Part of snake found in bag of frozen green beans

VIROQUA – Cindy Guist was helping her mother, Lillian Geary, prepare meals for the week Monday when she poured frozen green beans from a bag into a bowl – and one “bean” didn’t look right.

In fact, had these been fresh from the garden, it likely would have slithered in the bowl.

It was a section of garter snake, the same diameter as the beans and mechanically cut to about an inch in length like the rest of the bag’s contents.

The beans had been bought at a major chain store and packaged by the Bells, Tenn.-based Pictsweet Company.

A “grossed out” Guist searched the entire bag but found no other parts among the beans.

“Where did the rest of the snake go?” she wondered.

Well, a family in Houston, Texas, might have found the head last month.

According to a Fox News report, Ernestine Jamison was preparing Pictsweet frozen cut green beans in February when she noticed something unusual.

“When I saw it was a snake’s head, I just threw it down and called my kids and said, ‘I got a snake’s head in the green beans,'” Jamison said. “Everybody said, ‘Oh Lord, you’ve got a snake head in the green beans!'”

Sarah Jamison, 15, grabbed her camera and took video and pictures of their uninvited dinner guest.

“I saw big eyes with a mouth open and a tongue coming out,” Sarah said. “It looked like it was ready to attack.”

Media worldwide picked up the story of the snake’s head in the green beans.

Geary and Guist weren’t as dramatic about their find. Still, the snake already has taken its toll.

“I don’t think I’ll be eating green beans anytime soon,” Guist said as she showed the snake section. “It just sort of makes your skin crawl.”

Guist said they took the beans and snake piece Thursday back to the store, which contacted Pictsweet. Pictsweet then called Geary and they are discussing the matter, she said.

A Pictsweet vice president did not return a telephone message left Thursday.

Man hospitalized after pet diamondback rattlesnake bites him

A Floral Park man was hospitalized after being bitten on the hand by his pet diamondback rattlesnake, one of a handful of reptiles – most venomous – he kept at his residence in violation of New York State law, authorities said.

Robert Lantier, 31, was bitten inside his Oak Street home late Thursday morning and taken to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx for treatment where hospital spokeswoman…

Guam gets federal money to combat brown tree snakes

Guam is getting a $230,000 federal grant to support its brown tree snake research and control program through the end of the year.
The U.S. territory’s Department of Agriculture will use the money to maintain about 700 traps to continue its native species recovery efforts.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Areas Tony Babauta said today in a Washington news release that the unintended introduction of the brown tree snake to Guam has had a devastating impact on native species.

Brown tree snakes hitched rides to Guam from their native Solomon Islands aboard military transportation during World War II. Since then, the snakes have wiped out 10 of 12 bird species on the island.

Officials fear the brown tree snake may one day make its way to Hawaii.

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