On the Trail - Robin des Bois

Seizure of 115 live turtles, including 72 black
pond turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii, Appendix I)
and 43 Indian narrow-headed softshell turtles
(Chitra indica, Appendix II)
Tentulberia, West Bengal, India
19 th September 2013
They spend most of the time in the sandy beds of
rivers and the females lay their eggs in sandbanks.
beginning of the month of August in Canada (cf.
Chapter multi-species reptiles) made the peaceful
town of Abbotsford, near Vancouver in the Province
of British Columbia, tremble. 46 reticulated pythons
were found in a building of an evangelist mission.
The longest measured close to 5 meter. Reticulated
pythons live in tropical forests of South-East Asia.
A safety parameter was set up around the snake
house. “There is no reason to believe the snakes
have escaped.” said a police spokesman who didn’t
quite manage to convince local habitants. All the
reticulated pythons were killed, no institutions
had the means to take them in. At least 50 other
snakes were seized among which a boa constrictor,
gopher snakes and king snake (Lampropeltis). None
of the snakes kept by the evangelist mission were
venomous. The mystery remains full as to who was
the owner what his motivations were.
© Shekar Dattatri.
Seizure of 220 live black pond turtles (Geoclemys
hamiltonii, Appendix I)
Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
September 22, 2013
Each one of them had been wrapped in black adhesive
tape. The 3 suitcases were on the baggage carousel
near gate 6 in the international airport. Noone
came to claim them and they had no address
tags on them.
Python’s Avenue in Abbotsford © Google Street
Seizure of a live reticulated python (Python reticulatus,
Appendix II)
Province of Nova Scotia, Canada
August 19, 2013
It seems to be confirmed that pythons are in style
in Canada. A beautiful specimen of a reticulated
python- 5.40 meter long, 90 kg- was seized in a pet
shop that had received legal approval from provincial
authorities. Yet the law in Nova Scotia forbids
possession and sale of this species. On the same
day, 40 pythons were seized in a motel room in
Brantford, Ontario.
© Sutthiwit Chayutvoraken
Snakes
Poaching of an Indian python (Python molurus
spp. Molurus)
Thiruvananthapuram, State of Kerala, India
July 19 th 2013
7 people were arrested for killing and eating the
reptile, the second largest in Asia after the snake reticulated
python, harmless to humans. Authorities
later found the snake’s skin.
Seizure of 46 live reticulated pythons (Python
reticulatus, Appendix II)
Abbotsford, Province of British Columbia, Canada
August 15, 2013
A replica of the python event that happened at the
Seizure of 2 live king cobras (Ophiophagus hannah,
Appendix II) – 9 kg
Ha Long, Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam
August 22, 2013
Another live cobras traffic near Hai Phong. They
were onboard a regular bus line approaching the
Chinese boarder. In Vietnam and China, the flesh of
the longest venomous snake and its alleged virtues
of «sex machine» are quite appreciated.
FAMILY AFFAIRS
Seizure of a live Indian Sand Boa (Eryx johnii,
Appendix II)
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala State, India
August 31, 2013
The famous 2 headed boa was stuffed in a bag full
of sand. 2 brothers and their accomplices were hoping
to sell it alive for US$ 800. Indian Sand Boas
are found in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and India.
On The Trail # 2. Robin des Bois
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