Man gets caught smuggling Royals

[Jim_Fear]

And probably not in the way you'd imagine :P

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Customs find reptile haul on man

[Grond]

Novel!

It was probably the fact he had no socks in his case that alerted officials!

[Ozgi]

What a plank!

Why smuggle royals? Are they illegal in Norway or something?

[trw]

what a mug. bbc have there facts wrong though. anthill pythons are the smallest of the python family.

[Grond]

Originally Posted by trw

what a mug. bbc have there facts wrong though. anthill pythons are the smallest of the python family.

People always get the facts wrong about snake stories!

[Natrix]

Originally Posted by Ozgi

What a plank!

Why smuggle royals? Are they illegal in Norway or something?

Yes they are!

If you live in Norway and you want to keep reptiles that is the lengths you have to go to.

This post appeared on several forums about five years ago and might help explain what was happening.

Natrix


Dear Group
I am sorry for cross posting this over various mailing lists, forums and
bothering you with off topic threads. The below text is a description of the
legislation around herptiles in Norway and the implications of getting
caught with illegal animals.
As you may know, herptiles are illegal to keep, breed, import and export in
Norway. Norway is 1 out of 2-3 countries in the world where herptiles are illegal. For what reasons?
In Hawaii herptiles are illegal (as far as I understand) because animals who
escape from private collections are likely to reproduce and may cause a
potential threat to native flora and fauna. This is in my opinion a
reasonable reason for banning herptiles in Hawaii.
In Norway the situation is totally different, here the winter is long, cold
and there are extremely few herptile species that can survive the harsh
climatic condition of the Norway country-region. Why reptiles are illegal in my country?
Your guess is as good as mine, probably due to prejudice against herptiles
from the part of politicians uneducated on the matter.
Animals confiscated by the Norwegian government are put to death (perhaps
with very rare exceptions in the cases of extremely rare and endangered
species).
Thursday the police came knocking on my door and all my animals are now
considered confiscated. My house is sealed off with police tape and no one
is allowed to go into it.
On Monday the police will return to my house with the district veterinary to
confiscate my animals. At a near point in the future my animals will most
likely be put to death and there is little I can do about it except hiring a
lawyer and hoping for a miracle. This is not a call for help for my part,
but on behalf of herptiles and herpetoculturists in my country.
I have started a roll call and hope to gather as many signatures as possible
as a peaceful protest, protest against the Norwegian government?s persecution
of herpetoculturists in Norway. I believe that the legislation in my country
is wrong and that all herptile species are not unjustifiable to keep as
captives. The Norwegian herpetological association has struggled for 12
years to lift the ban on herpetoculture in my country without success so
far. We can,t seem to put enough pressure on our government to make things
happen.
The roll call I have initiated is also a protest and sharp criticism against
animals being confiscated and put to death as a consequence of the Norwegian
legislation.
If you agree that governments shouldn’t be so restrictive as to ban all
herpetoculture within a country, please take the time to visit the below
link and sign the roll call.
Link now gone
Please feel free to pass
this post onto other relevant mailing lists and forums so that as many
people as possible may sign this role call if they wish.
Again I am sorry to occupy your time with this kind of inquiry, have a nice
day.
Best regards
Våålen Gåånev (obeligz)
Committee member of the Norwegian Herpetological Association

[indifference83]

*takes notes for upcoming trip to Mexico......*

[Jack W]

That legislation in Norway is mad! I had never even heard about that before.

[naz_pixie]

Originally Posted by Jack W

That legislation in Norway is mad! I had never even heard about that before.

the "sucsess" of the legistration in norway is also part of what the IAR and other anti groups are trying to use to get reptiles and all exotic pet keeping banned other here and other countries.