A Hong Kong woman has been arrested after 30 endangered reptiles were found in a flat in Sham Shui Po. Authorities discovered the collection after a the crocodile was spotted on the building’s balcony on Wednesday.
Police and personnel from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation (AFCD) raided the 35-year-old’s apartment on Tai Po Road in the early hours of Thursday, according to a government press release. RELEASE published later that day.
Inside, they found 63 reptiles, amphibians and arthropods. Among them were 29 endangered reptiles listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
They included three rock iguanas; four giant Aldabra tortoises; a savannah monitor; a boa constrictor; and a Burmese python.
The woman told authorities that she owned the animals and that they were intended for educational purposes.
After she failed to produce any license to own the creatures, the AFCD arrested her on suspicion of illegal possession of endangered species.
The offense is punishable by a fine of up to HK$10 million and 10 years in prison.
The raid came after one the crocodile was found on a platform related to the housing unit on Wednesday. Inspectors from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) were CALLED to the scene and managed to secure the juvenile crocodile, which appeared to have a leg injury.
The SPCA said crocodiles are dangerous animals and can pose a serious threat to people and other animals.
According to a government press release on Thursday, the reptile was tentatively identified as an estuarine crocodile, which is also listed in CITES.
Including the crocodile, the woman was suspected of illegally owning 30 endangered reptiles. All of them have been seized for investigation.
