A man who bought a pet crocodile under the Northern Territory’s
liberal wildlife-purchasing regime fell foul of the law only when trying
to smuggle the reptile in his work boot on a plane into Queensland.
The juvenile crocodile, which the man purchased from a Darwin crocodile park, was gravely ill by the time it was uncovered by authorities at Brisbane airport in a cardboard canister, hidden in a work boot inside a suitcase that was stored in the plane’s baggage hold.
In what is believed to be the first prosecution of smuggling a crocodile into Queensland – where the saltwater predators famously abound in its tropical north – the 35-year-old culprit, Kevin John Smith from Hervey Bay, was fined $5,700 in the Brisbane magistrates court on Wednesday.
An environment department spokeswoman said: “The crocodile, which endured confinement in the unpressurised hold, was treated and given a new home with a licensed wildlife demonstrated but recently died.”
The case has ignited suspicions that those unwisely seeking to keep the protected species as pets are behind recent sightings of crocodiles deep in the state’s south, including at Mary river near Gympie and even in canals on the Gold Coast.
University of Queensland zoology professor Craig Franklin said it was plausible that juvenile crocodiles could survive after being released into the wild by would-be owners who awake to the reality of dealing with adults up to 5m long.
But it was equally plausible that crocodiles had arrived from the far north under their own steam, and would do so in increasing numbers amid higher average temperatures driven by climate change, Franklin said.
The 35-year-old bought the juvenile crocodile from Crocodylus Park in Darwin then flew to Brisbane in December last year, where a Queensland wildlife officer and Australian federal police uncovered the animal in a baggage search.
He was prosecuted for unlawfully possessing a crocodile in violation of the state’s Nature Conservation Act, which explicitly forbids keeping the reptiles as pets. The maximum penalty is two years’ jail and fines of up to $353,400.
A prosecutor told the court that while a juvenile of that size was “essentially harmless”, a male saltwater crocodile could grow to weigh 1,000kg and reach up to 5m long, posing a grave safety risk.
Simon Ferguson, the zoo supervisor at Crocodylus Park where the man bought the animal, said unlike in Queensland, “members of the public are entitled to keep crocodiles up here, within limits and regulations”.
Under NT law, people can buy crocodiles before having to seek permits from parks and wildlife to keep them.
“In the Northern Territory, the system’s a little bit backwards,” Ferguson said. “You buy the animal and take the receipt to the parks and wildlife office and they then issue a permit for that animal. From purchase date, you’ve got seven days to present the receipt to parks and wildlife. The receipt gives proof of purchase to show the animal’s legal.”
Ferguson said the crocodile park was unlikely to lose sleep if buyers were required to seek permits before purchasing crocodiles.
“[But] it’s the NT parks and wildlife system, that’s how they do it.”
Franklin said the southernmost sighting of an adult crocodile recorded in Australia was at Logan river, south of Brisbane, in the early 1900s.
“We know that crocodiles can occur naturally down here, they can migrate down from the north,” he said.
“Very likely the Mary river crocodiles we keep hearing about were crocodiles that have migrated down from the north and likewise with the Fraser river.
“It’s very hard to determine whether they are natural or whether they are due to human release.”
Franklin said it was “feasible” that more crocodiles will be found further south in the future, given warmer temperatures were one factor in their distribution.
“One thing that limits crocodile movement is temperature, we know that, so in the future if it does warm as predicted, that removes one barrier,” he said.
The juvenile crocodile, which the man purchased from a Darwin crocodile park, was gravely ill by the time it was uncovered by authorities at Brisbane airport in a cardboard canister, hidden in a work boot inside a suitcase that was stored in the plane’s baggage hold.
In what is believed to be the first prosecution of smuggling a crocodile into Queensland – where the saltwater predators famously abound in its tropical north – the 35-year-old culprit, Kevin John Smith from Hervey Bay, was fined $5,700 in the Brisbane magistrates court on Wednesday.
An environment department spokeswoman said: “The crocodile, which endured confinement in the unpressurised hold, was treated and given a new home with a licensed wildlife demonstrated but recently died.”
The case has ignited suspicions that those unwisely seeking to keep the protected species as pets are behind recent sightings of crocodiles deep in the state’s south, including at Mary river near Gympie and even in canals on the Gold Coast.
University of Queensland zoology professor Craig Franklin said it was plausible that juvenile crocodiles could survive after being released into the wild by would-be owners who awake to the reality of dealing with adults up to 5m long.
But it was equally plausible that crocodiles had arrived from the far north under their own steam, and would do so in increasing numbers amid higher average temperatures driven by climate change, Franklin said.
The 35-year-old bought the juvenile crocodile from Crocodylus Park in Darwin then flew to Brisbane in December last year, where a Queensland wildlife officer and Australian federal police uncovered the animal in a baggage search.
He was prosecuted for unlawfully possessing a crocodile in violation of the state’s Nature Conservation Act, which explicitly forbids keeping the reptiles as pets. The maximum penalty is two years’ jail and fines of up to $353,400.
A prosecutor told the court that while a juvenile of that size was “essentially harmless”, a male saltwater crocodile could grow to weigh 1,000kg and reach up to 5m long, posing a grave safety risk.
Simon Ferguson, the zoo supervisor at Crocodylus Park where the man bought the animal, said unlike in Queensland, “members of the public are entitled to keep crocodiles up here, within limits and regulations”.
Under NT law, people can buy crocodiles before having to seek permits from parks and wildlife to keep them.
“In the Northern Territory, the system’s a little bit backwards,” Ferguson said. “You buy the animal and take the receipt to the parks and wildlife office and they then issue a permit for that animal. From purchase date, you’ve got seven days to present the receipt to parks and wildlife. The receipt gives proof of purchase to show the animal’s legal.”
Ferguson said the crocodile park was unlikely to lose sleep if buyers were required to seek permits before purchasing crocodiles.
“[But] it’s the NT parks and wildlife system, that’s how they do it.”
Franklin said the southernmost sighting of an adult crocodile recorded in Australia was at Logan river, south of Brisbane, in the early 1900s.
“We know that crocodiles can occur naturally down here, they can migrate down from the north,” he said.
“Very likely the Mary river crocodiles we keep hearing about were crocodiles that have migrated down from the north and likewise with the Fraser river.
“It’s very hard to determine whether they are natural or whether they are due to human release.”
Franklin said it was “feasible” that more crocodiles will be found further south in the future, given warmer temperatures were one factor in their distribution.
“One thing that limits crocodile movement is temperature, we know that, so in the future if it does warm as predicted, that removes one barrier,” he said.
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