TV wildlife producer admits smuggling 200 animals out of Australia in luggage

[netsat]

The award-winning producer of Anglia television's Survival wildlife series has pleaded guilty to smuggling nearly 200 native animals out of Australia.

Mike Linley, 51, was stopped at Perth international airport last Monday carrying 189 animals in his luggage, as well as 26 eggs. The haul of 27 separate species included geckos, snakes, desert tree frogs and cockroaches. It is believed to be Australia's largest single wildlife smuggling case.

Customs officers had been tipped off after he was spotted earlier this month behaving oddly in the bush near Perth.

Mr Linley, from Norwich, has won awards for his conservation work and spent several years as scientific adviser, producer and executive producer of Survival. He also worked for the National Geographic channel and is the author of several books on reptiles and frogs.

Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of removing animals from Australia, as well as a second charge concerning the smuggling of two spiny-tailed geckos in January.

He agreed to plead guilty to a further 31 state charges relating to individual species and locations, but pleaded not guilty to cruelty to animals.

A customs x-ray revealed the creatures concealed in his two suitcases. Investigators from Western Australia's department of conservation and land management said that some of the females were already laying eggs. All the animals have since been released back into the wild, while the eggs are being incubated.

Mr Linley's lawyers offered no explanation for his actions, although his defence lawyer, Geoff Vickeridge, told the court last week that he was a keen reptile collector.

Animal smugglers in Australia face federal fines of up to A$124,000 (£40,000) and 10 years in prison if convicted, and each of the 31 state charges carries an A$4,000 fine.

Mr Linley was released on bail, his passport confiscated, to appear for sentencing in December. The cruelty charge will be heard in January.

Australia's unique ecosystem makes wildlife smuggling a major problem. Only drugs and arms traffickers make more from their illicit trades.