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Two Japanese face the music with the beetles |
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| AUSTRALIA: February 12, 2003 | ||
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CANBERRA - Two Japanese men caught at Sydney airport allegedly trying to smuggle out rare stag beetles could face seven years jail and a hefty fine for threatening an Australian World Heritage property, officials said yesterday.
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Environment Minister David Kemp said the men were caught by customs officers on Sunday, carrying a large quantity of live and dead luminous stag beetles which are valuable in Japan, sold to collectors or as pets for up to A$500 ($295) each. A breed of stag beetles is believed to be unique to Australia's remote Lord Howe Island, about 780 km (485 miles) northeast of Sydney in the Tasman Sea, and it is illegal to export them. Kemp said the two men appeared in a Sydney court yesterday and the case was adjourned until January 18. They could face up to seven years in jail and/or up to A$46,200 in fines if found guilty of breaking conservation laws which protect values of a World Heritage property. Lord Howe Island was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982. Kemp said this was the first time in Australia that charges had been laid for offences against World Heritage values that became law in Australia two years ago. "The beetles live in rotting timber that had to be broken open to collect them, substantially damaging the ecosystem," Kemp said in a statement. "Because a large proportion of the beetles' habitat was destroyed, it has the potential to detrimentally impact the entire species of stag beetles."
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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