# Cairns man fined $4500 for taking snakes, reptiles from national parks



## slim6y (May 26, 2010)

*Published On:* 5-26-2010
*Source:* The Courier Mail

Finally - people getting caught!

A MAN who poked a forked tongue at the law has been fined $4500 for taking snakes and other reptiles from national parks in Queensland's far north.

Rhys Bernard Livens has pleaded guilty in the Cairns Magistrates Court to nine charges under the Nature Conservation Act.

Some of the charges relate to the discovery of seven carpet pythons, three water pythons and a spotted python at his home in October 2008.

They were taken from various locations, including the Barron Gorge and Lakefield national parks.

In 2009, authorities went back to the man's Cairns home and found more reptiles - two chameleon geckos, a carpet python, an amethystine python, a northern velvet gecko and two thick-tailed geckos.

He admitted taking all of the animals from the wild.

Magistrate Jane Bentley fined Livens $3500 for the 2008 offences and $1000 for the 2009 offences.

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No conviction was recorded.

Sustainability Minister Annastacia Palasczcuk said the case was a warning to others not to take native animals from the wild.

``They can't be released back into their natural environment because it cannot be verified whether they picked up diseases during their time in captivity,'' she said.

Livens admitted to catching hundreds of snakes over a long period of time, but said he only kept a small selection.

*Go to Original Article*


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## xterra (May 26, 2010)

In 2008 the total value of those animals would have been close to value of the fine..............doesn't seem like that much of a warning to others.


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## Waterrat (May 26, 2010)

I guy I buy rats from used to supply Rhys with rodents and apparently this bloke was openly boasting that he never bought a snake, he just goes for a drive and collects them from the wild. 
No wonder he got nipped! .... intelligence in disguise.


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## slim6y (May 26, 2010)

Waterrat said:


> I guy I buy rats from used to supply Rhys with rodents and apparently this bloke was openly boasting that he never bought a snake, he just goes for a drive and collects them from the wild.
> No wonder he got nipped! .... intelligence in disguise.


 
Unbelievable!!!

But it was merely a wrap on the hand... He'll just steal more to make his fine (possibly).

So I assume he was 'dobbed' in?


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## Bushfire (May 26, 2010)

While locality specific animals seem to be in demand this kind of thing will only increase. Already there are too many keepers and breeders with his kind of attitude.


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## Northern (May 26, 2010)

$4500? pffftt so not harsh enough to send any sort of warning and nowhere near fitting the punishment he deserves. I've had dealings with him before and his attitude towards everything about reptiles is wrong... the way he keeps them, the ways he treats them...wrong! He deserves a fine for mistreatment as well as for removing them from the wild.


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## krusty (Jun 10, 2010)

he will be back at it ASAP.


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