The seizure of dozens of live Western blue-tongued lizards, bearded dragons and spiny-tailed skinks covertly packed into popcorn bags, biscuit tins and women’s handbags have led to the longest prison sentence ever doled out to a wildlife smuggler in Australia. On February 13, a New South Wales District Court sentenced 61-year-old Neil Simpson to eight years in jail for attempting to export 101 Australian reptiles to Hong Kong, Romania, South Korea and Sri Lanka. They were intercepted soon after being mailed, and investigators recovered several hundred more during subsequent searches of Simpson’s home. “This record sentence sends a strong message that profiting from illegally exporting our native wildlife will not be tolerated,” a spokesperson with Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said. In addition to Western blue-tongued lizards (Tiliqua occipitalis) and multiple bearded dragon and spiny-tailed skink species, Simpson trafficked shingleback lizards (Tiliqua rugosa), Centralian blue-tongued skinks (Tiliqua multifasciata), desert skinks and narrow-banded sand swimmers (Eremiascincus fasciolatus). They were concealed in post packages shipped to international buyers. Each of the confiscated species is classified as a “regulated native specimen.” (Left) This Eastern Pilbara spiny-tailed skink was among hundreds of trafficked reptiles confiscated by Australian authorities that were intercepted en route to Asia and Europe or were seized at the home of Neil Simpson, who masterminded the operation. (Right) Numerous Australian reptiles were trafficked internationally by Simpson and others, according to officials, from at least 2018 to 2023, including this Southern Pygmy spiny-tailed skink. Simpson, the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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