NEWS
ACRES IN THE NEWS
_________________________________________________________________________
The Straits Times
7 February 2006
Tarantulas found abandoned
Fear of more such cases with stiffer laws on wild species on the way
By Radha Basu
Abandoned by the kerbside near Bartley Road, the plastic bags looked innocuous enough.
But on close inspection, volunteers from an animal welfare group were shocked to find seven large tarantula spiders flaying their hairy legs, each locked in its own plastic container.
Alerted by an anonymous caller, the volunteers from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, or Acres, made the shocking discovery on Sunday night.
It was the second tarantula find in less than two weeks. Acting on a tip-off, officers from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) found six tarantulas in a Choa Chu Kang flat on Jan 24.
The Singapore Zoo is currently identifying the species of the tarantulas found on Sunday, though Acres believes that at least two are Mexican Red Knees, a highly endangered variety of the spider.
It is illegal to keep wild or endangered species as pets in Singapore.
Acres foresees an increase in cases of such pets being abandoned following a new law that dramatically increases the penalty for keeping illegal pets.
The Endangered Species (Import and Export) Bill was passes by Parliament last month. It is currently awaiting presidential approval, the final legislative process before a bill becomes law.
Under the old law, those who possessed or traded in endangered animals could be fined a maximum of $5,000 for every species or type he kept. The new law plans to raise the fine to $50,000 for each animal, subject to a maximum $500,000 fine per case.
The president of Acres, Mr Louis Ng, is one of those who made the discovery on Sunday. He suspects that the impending change in law has something to do with the find.
“Under the new law, the offender could be fined $100,000 for keeping two endangered Red Knee tarantulas,” Mr Ng told The Straits Times.
If all seven tarantulas are declared endangered, the offender could stand to lose $350,000. Under the old law, the penalty would not have been more than $5,000.
Acres fears that cases of potentially dangerous animals being abandoned in public areas may well go up because of the impending law and AVA figures appear to support such concerns. A total of 21 animals were surrendered or confiscated by AVA officials last month, compared to about 12 a month last year.
......................................................................................................................................................................................