AR-News: (AR - US) Scottish businessman/animal trader dead, box on road with deadly snakes found

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Tue 25 May 2004 
 


Trade goes off the scale 

JULIA HORTON 

A SCOTTISH businessman is found dead, slumped over the wheel of a rented car near the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, in the United States, surrounded by a pool of vomit. Half-a-mile away, an electrician stumbles upon a wooden box abandoned beside the highway - containing four of the deadliest snakes in the world... 

It sounds like the opening to a Quentin Tarantino film. 

But while these two mysterious scenes are indisputably dramatic, they were not dreamed up by any film-maker. 

They are the all-too-real final moments of wealthy 48-year-old computer programmer Garrick Wales. 

How the box of snakes came to be abandoned is a mystery, as is what happened to a second consignment of deadly creatures which the father-of-three from Kilmacolm near Glasgow is understood to have bought from the same dealer. 

While the first box of snakes included the African black mamba - arguably the world’s deadliest snake with a bite which can kill in ten minutes - it was said to have been secure, pushing suspicion on to the snakes in the second missing batch, understood to have included another African killer, the boomslang. 

As investigations continue in Arkansas to try to find out what happened to Wales, his death has highlighted the murky multi-billion pound world of the international illegal animal trade. 

Wales bought the four snakes over the internet from a dealer in Florida. 

The website for that dealer, Exotic Reptiles Jungle in Palm Springs, says it only sells venomous reptiles to "legally permitted adults and only in areas where venomous reptiles are permitted". 

And it appears that Wales acted within the law by arranging for the snakes to be sent to Arkansas - which unlike Florida does not require people to have a licence to keep the lethal animals - and travelling to the southern state to pick up his purchases. But while there is no clue as to what he planned to do with them, it would have been virtually impossible for him to have brought them back to Scotland legally. Under the Dangerous Animals Act 1976, anyone who wants to keep a venomous snake in Scotland must apply for a licence from their local council. 

And because of the dangers posed to the public should a snake escape - as often happens with non-venomous pet snakes in Scotland - councils rarely grant such licences. Edinburgh City Council, for example, has never granted such a licence. 

This makes avid collectors increasingly likely to break the law in order to obtain the creatures they prize so highly. 

The trade in selling wild animals and plants is worth billions. Most of that trade is legal, with dealers such as Exotic Reptiles Jungle advertising a range of venomous snakes for less than £100 each, including comparatively less dangerous snakes such as pythons and rattlesnakes. 

But, according to the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic International, a "significant portion" of it is not. 

And with collectors prepared to pay "tens of thousands of pounds" for a single deadly snake, and poverty-stricken locals in countries where the creatures are native, such as Africa and India, desperate to make a living, it is not hard to see why the trade is estimated to be second only to illegal drugs trafficking in terms of profit. 

Gareth Bennett, reptile keeper at Edinburgh Zoo, says: "People will pay tens of thousands of pounds for these venomous snakes. The more exotic, which generally to these people means the more dangerous, like the mamba or seasnakes, the more they will pay. Collectors are prepared to pay crazy money for anything with a random natural genetic mutation, for example albinism [where a snake is an albino]. The rarer it is the better, it is like a status symbol." 

He adds: "There is a huge illegal trade in animals. It is a very murky world, and it is thought to be second only to the drugs trade. It is very difficult to stop, though. Trying to impose a blanket ban just would not work. Any attempt to do that without the involvement of the indigenous people of these countries would never work because these people have nothing. If they can find a way of feeding themselves who are we to say: ‘No, you must starve to death’?" 

Explaining just how hazardous a snake like a black mamba is, he adds: "We do not keep venomous snakes at all at the zoo now, because the anti-venom is so expensive and so difficult to get hold of. Black mambas are not only poisonous, they are extremely aggressive. I have never handled one and I would never want to." 

Jason Devlin, of Scottish educational group Reptile Rescue and Education, spells out how easy it is to smuggle dangerous animals into the country. 

"If you are bringing something home from abroad which you bought over the internet, it is not hard to put it in a bag, cover it and get through. Licensing and legislation is not good enough and while there are a lot of responsible snake owners, money talks." 

Bennett believes that most snakes sold to collectors are bred in captivity, which can be done legally in some states in the US. 

However, the Exotic Reptiles Jungle site which Wales used states that "unless otherwise noted, animals are wild-caught imports". It also boasts "bargains galore!" and lists a range of venomous snakes including East African green mambas for around £84, Egyptian cobras at about £56, monocled cobras for roughly £75 and, the most expensive listed, Indian blue kraits at around £98. Potential buyers also warned that such creatures are "very dangerous". 

And although in some parts of the world people are free to keep the lethal animals with no regulation, Scotland and the rest of Britain remain strictly opposed to the idea. 

Mike Flynn, of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says: "The snake market is huge, but mostly for non-venomous snakes. Local authorities rarely grant licences to people because of the risk to the public. We have to go out collecting escaped snakes around once a month or once every two months. That is fine if it is a harmless cornsnake, but obviously would not be for a dangerous snake." 

Not all the plants and creatures traded, illegally or otherwise, are destined for collectors. Many are sold as food or to make leather goods from their skins. 

Live legally imported snakes have to be transported under strict conditions with properly marked containers highlighting the potentially dangerous nature of the cargo. 

They are checked by Customs officers when they arrive in Britain. If endangered species are found, they will be confiscated immediately. 

But none of the snakes which Wales had were endangered and, as venomous snakes, Customs officials would have referred him to his council to seek a licence. 

Snakes being traded illegally enter the country in all kinds of ways. 

A Customs spokesman says: "There was one case where a woman was wearing a snake round her waist. It moved and officers realised it was not a belt. 

"People have put them in suitcases too. Being cold-blooded, temperature is not so important to their survival. They have been hidden in hand luggage as well." 

Edinburgh City Council confirms no licences have ever been granted for keeping venomous snakes in the Capital. 

A spokeswoman explains that to obtain a licence to keep any dangerous animal under the 1976 Act, people must prove that they are knowledgeable about the creature’s care and that their home is suitable for keeping such a creature. 

Meanwhile, back in Arkansas investigations are continuing into how Wales died. The details may never be known, but his death is likely to make animal collectors round the world think twice about their next purchase.