New Zealand jails German caught with 44 lizards in pants

Man will spend 14 weeks behind bars and must pay a fine before being deported

Wellington, New Zealand — Associated Press Published on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010 12:47AM EST

A German man who stuffed 44 small lizards into his underwear before trying to board a flight has been sentenced to prison in New Zealand for plundering the country's protected species.

Hans Kurt Kubus, 58, will spend 14 weeks behind bars and must pay a $5,000 New Zealand ($3,760) fine before being deported to Germany as soon as he is released, District Court Judge Colin Doherty ruled on Tuesday.

Mr. Kubus was caught by wildlife officials at Christchurch International Airport on South Island in December, about to board an overseas flight with 44 geckos and skinks in a hand-sewn package concealed in his underwear.

He admitted trading in exploited species without a permit and hunting absolutely protected wildlife without authority, pleading guilty to two charges under the Wildlife Act and five under the Trade in Endangered Species Act.

Department of Conservation prosecutor Mike Bodie told the court Mr. Kubus could have faced potential maximum penalties of $500,000 and six months in prison.

Mr. Bodie said the department sought a deterrent sentence for “the most serious case of its kind detected in New Zealand for a decade or more.”

The geckos may have been worth €2,000 ($3,000) each on the European market, he noted.

Customs records showed that Mr. Kubus had also been to New Zealand in 2001, 2004, 2008, and 2009. In 2008, he had been with a Swiss reptile dealer.

Judge Doherty said Mr. Kubus had come to New Zealand and set about poaching the animals in a premeditated way that would have had an impact on particular colonies.

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I Smell An Invasive Rat

Genetic tests pin down origins of island-hopping rodents

After managers try to eliminate an invasive species from an ecosystem, the pests can sometimes turn up again. But are the animals survivors of the eradication or new invaders from a different region?

The answer is important for pest managers because it determines whether the original eradication attempt worked, researchers say in Biological Invasions. If the animals are survivors, the strategy may need to be changed – a potentially costly process. On the other hand, a reinvasion might mean that security needs to be strengthened.

The team studied one scenario at Pearl Island, New Zealand, an area that was invaded by three rat species. After managers attempted to stamp out the pests in 2005, 13 rats were found in 2006, and one species spread across the island by 2007. To find out where the rodents had come from, the researchers analyzed the DNA of rats from Pearl Island, both before and after eradication, as well as from neighboring Stewart Island.

The newly discovered rats bore the genetic traits of the Stewart Island population, the team concluded. So while the eradication succeeded, rats appear to be swimming to Pearl Island faster than expected. The researchers say that similar tests could be used to evaluate other eradication campaigns, as long as managers collect samples of the species before removal. – Roberta Kwok

Source: Russell, J., Miller, S., Harper, G., MacInnes, H., Wylie, M., & Fewster, R. (2009). Survivors or reinvaders? Using genetic assignment to identify invasive pests following eradication Biological Invasions DOI: 10.1007/s10530-009-9586-1
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