Timothy Goh Straits Times 23 Aug 18;
SINGAPORE - More than two dozen animals were found inside a man's house during an investigation by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).
Last Wednesday (Aug 15), an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer stationed in the Parcel Post Section of SingPost Centre detected anomalies in the scanned image of a postal article.
According to a Facebook post by the ICA, when further checks were conducted, the authorities discovered 23 tarantulas kept inside tubes.
The case was then referred to AVA for further investigation.
Afterwards, 20 tarantulas, a jumping spider, three leopard geckos, a fat-tailed gecko and a hedgehog were found in the home of the man, a 23-year-old Singaporean.
All the animals were seized and placed in the care of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
In a statement on Thursday (Aug 23), the ICA said: "The keeping and/or trading of wildlife such as tarantulas is an offence in Singapore under the Wild Animals and Birds Act."
Investigations are ongoing.
