CALGARY SUN (Alberta) 21 December 05 Officers Seize Illegal Reptile (Bill Kaufmann)
Photo: Reptile World president Dave Bethel holds a spectacled cayman that was seized from a home by provincial wildlife officials in Queensland because it is a restricted pet.
Putting some teeth into a ban on exotic pets, provincial wildlife officers confiscated a rarely seen cayman from its Calgary owners yesterday.
Acting on a tip the 80-cm-long, crocodile-like reptile was being inhumanely kept in a home on Queensland Circle S.E., officers spirited the animal away to Drumheller's Reptile World for safe-keeping.
Though the cayman was found to be healthy and treated well, it's a prohibited animal and one of only several banned pets seized in Calgary each year, said wildlife officer Paul Lupyczuk.
"It's because the awareness isn't there, that they're illegal," said Lupyczuk, who taped the snout of the cayman to remove it safely.
Officers in Calgary have also seized massive Burmese pythons, boa constrictors and lethally venomous cobra snakes.
Baby crocodiles have been intercepted at Calgary International Airport, said Lupyczuk.
"But mostly, these animals aren't knowingly smuggled here -- people just don't know they're illegal," he said.
Authorities are contemplating charging the cayman's owner with possession of a controlled animal, which brings a maximum fine of $100,000 but more commonly a $2,500 penalty, said Lupyczuk.
Officers Seize Illegal Reptile