Sungazer lizards were seized by the Green Scorpions.
Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.
A parcel including a poisonous cobra and lizards was seized after a smuggling effort through a PostNet in Pretoria was warded off by the Green Scorpions.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment’s (DFFE) ecological management inspectors or Green Scorpions, recently took the parcel including a snouted cobra (formerly referred to as the Egyptian cobra), Sungazer lizards, another kind of girdled lizard and 2 native skinks.
They were supposedly being smuggled from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal utilizing a PostNet branch in Pretoria.
Two guys – Barend Johan Coetzee (28) and Zander Aylward (19) – were jailed on charges of the prohibited ownership, transportation and trade of types noted in regards to the Threatened or Protected Species policies.
“Following the arrest of the guys at the PostNet branch in Pretoria, their home was browsed by the Green Scorpions, supported by SAPS K9 system,” a declaration from the DFFE showed.
“An overall of 19 reptiles and amphibians were taken throughout the searches,” the department said.
The reptiles consist of African bullfrogs and an African rock python, which are on the Threatened or Protected Species List.
African bull frogs were amongst the 19 reptiles and amphibians discovered throughout searches.
The implicated appeared in the Cullinan District Court on 10 February 2023, and they have actually been launched on bail. The matter is held off to 30 March 2023.
