{"id":146216,"date":"2016-05-25T17:11:21","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T07:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=146216"},"modified":"2020-10-13T16:44:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-13T06:44:03","slug":"amnesty-declared-on-exotic-reptiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/05\/25\/amnesty-declared-on-exotic-reptiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Amnesty Declared On Exotic Reptiles"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Agriculture Minister Leanne Donaldson with a Krefft’s Turtle … this species is native to the Burnett River in Queensland and could be harmed by the introduction of exotic reptiles
(Photo: Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 25, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

The State Government has declared a short amnesty to allow pet owners to surrender illegal non-native reptiles.<\/p>\n

Agriculture Minister Leanne Donaldson said the exotic reptile amnesty would run until June 10 and would allow people to hand in non-native reptiles (turtles, lizards or snakes) without the risk of prosecution before the implementation of the Biosecurity Act 2014 on July 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s illegal to keep non-native reptiles as pets in Queensland as they pose a real threat to our native wildlife,\u201d Ms Donaldson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA single pregnant snake or turtle could establish a population that could out-compete native species and be impossible to eradicate.<\/p>\n

\u201cExotic reptiles also carry diseases that, if introduced into Queensland, have the potential to wipe out native reptiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the new laws, harsher penalties will apply to those keeping declared pests in Queensland, including jail time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr John Robertson, from Biosecurity Queensland, said his team had responded to incidents involving a range of non-native reptiles that had been found at large in urban areas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the exotic reptiles we find are the result of illegal pets escaping or being dumped,\u201d Dr Robertson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2013 we have found five American corn snakes, four boa constrictors, a Chinese stripe-necked turtle, a South East Asian box turtle and two red-eared slider turtles in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Donaldson said the purpose of the amnesty was to allow people to surrender any non-native reptile pets they have without the fear of prosecution.<\/p>\n

She said surrender sites had been established in consultation with local councils.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m encouraging people to make the right choice when considering the purchase of a pet, and asking those who are keeping non-native reptiles to use this opportunity to hand them in, penalty-free,\u201d Ms Donaldson said.<\/p>\n