WA: German pleads guilty to wildlife smuggling

AAP General News (Australia)
01-14-2000
WA: German pleads guilty to wildlife smuggling

PERTH, Jan 14 AAP - A 36-year-old German man pleaded guilty today to exporting and
attempting to export more than 80 Australian native animals, including lizards and pythons.

Lutz Obelgoenner also pleaded guilty to two animal cruelty charges under the Wildlife
Protection Act.

Obelgoenner had been under surveillance by Customs officials for more than a month
before he was arrested on December 24 in Geraldton, 400km north of Perth, trying to send
a parcel of 59 skinks to Germany.

Skinks are a rare species of lizard native to Western …