Hmmm... the saga just goes on & on... such silly constraints and for what purpose?
Now, king of knobs, just a brief history (sorry to bore the members who've heard this story again & again...) to put paid to every one of your suggestions...
When I was living in WA (from 1948 till 2005,) I spent most of my working life at the WA Museum, which kept me in constant contact with the scientific herp community and the wildlife bureaucrats at what was, in the 60s, The Dept of Fisheries & Wildlife... which became CALM... which became DEC... which has become something else now...
During that time, I saw the regulations regarding reptile keeping change from easy (reptiles were protected but you could easily get a permit to collect or import in the 50s & early 60s). Indeed in the early 60s the Dept of Fisheries & Wildlife arranged for one of their officers in Kununurra to catch and send to me 2 Johnstone's Crocodiles for $20 plus freight! Things changed drastically in the late 60s and taking reptiles from the wild was akin to murder. But habitat destruction continued and increased dramatically of course.
I was lucky in some ways - I was able to get a Reg 16 licence and keep reptiles through my job at the WAM... Time moved on to the early 90s, other states were beginning to develop licencing systems for keepers, but not WA. A herp group (including me) began a series of meetings with CALM officials - a tortuous process which wasn't moving much at all. The group distilled into 3 individuals - myself, Mike Lynch and Simon Ball, and we maintained our presence with CALM for a couple of years but were constantly being stalled. I was fortunate enough to have the then Labor Minister of the Environment, DR Judy Edwards, as a personal friend. She indicated that she would be prepared to apply pressure to CALM to give us a fair hearing. This started the ball rolling, and the momentum was taken over by a new Minister, Lib Cheryl Edwardes, who was very keen to see an outcome.
So, by 2002, all was pretty much resolved and we were promised a great keeping system... It went quiet for 12 months while legislation was drafted etc, but we three took our eyes off the ball during that time (probably weren't going to be privy to the legislative machinations anyway). March 2003 and the regs were announced with some fanfare - but of course the bureaucrats had managed to turn the regulations from something like the sleek horse we were promised into the camel you're all dealing with in WA now. Over 10 years of work involving dozens of people and the end result is what you have now.
As far as your final point goes, king of knobs, by the time I was in my late 50s, I couldn't be bothered pushing the barrow any more, and you'll be pleased to know, I did, in fact, move to NSW, where I live happily on 100 bush acres on the mid north coast, surrounded by Lace Monitors, Green Tree Snakes, Brown Tree Snakes, Intergrade Pythons and a heap of other things that I see almost every day without having to keep them in cages. And I can keep and breed some of my favourites such as Green Tree Pythons, Roughies etc.
Perhaps you'd like to pick up and run with baton for a while king of knobs - you could use it to slug someone who might photograph a Bluetongue in a national park... especially if they're going fishing and happen to have a landing net with them.
I think I've done my bit. I don't encourage illegal taking in any way, shape or form, but you'll find, if you look hard enough, that habitat destruction is the single biggest threat to most reptiles. Hell, you only have to visit Perth to see that there's almost nothing left of the Swan Coastal Plain, and they're pumping so much bore water out of the sands that the remaining bush is dying. Don't ever try and tell me that someone photographing a lizard is a threat to the species... been around too long for that.
Jamie (whew)
but im obviously no where near experienced enough. Whats the procedure for getting takers license?
