Banned boa brings fine

A 30-year-old Keysborough man was fined $1000 and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond over the illegal possession of boa constrictor.
Dirk Elwyn Ludowyk pleaded guilty to one pest animal charge and two related wildlife offences at last week’s hearing before Magistrate Steve Raliegh at Dandenong Magistrates Court.
The charges covered illegally keeping a controlled pest animal, failure to update entries in his wildlife record book, and not returning the required forms.
The court heard that Department of Sustainability and Environment wildlife officers executed a search warrant on Mr Ludowyk’s Keysborough home on July 20, 2006.
They were acting on an anonymous tip from someone who spotted the 2.5-metre snake in the window of the house while walking along the footpath and reported it to DSE.
DSE prosector Samantha Moore told the court that when wildlife officers searched the house the boa constrictor was found in a large enclosure upstairs.
She said Mr Ludowyk was the holder of a native wildlife licence and that one carpet python, an olive python and a ridge-tailed monitor were also found in enclosures on the premises.
“Mr Ludowyk said the boa constrictor had been purchased six years ago for $1000,” she said.
“Keeping illegal exotic wildlife, which could have Inclusion Body Disease (IBD), poses a significant threat to native snakes both in captivity and the wild.
“He was aware of an amnesty for exotic wildlife held in 2004 but said he did not hand the boa constrictor in at that time because he did not wish to part with it,” she said.
Boa constrictors are native to Central and South America.
They are freely available in the United States but strictly prohibited in Australia as they prey on Australian wildlife and have the potential to wipe out vast populations of native reptiles through disease.
Magistrate Raliegh said he found the charges proven but did not record a conviction given the defendant’s lack of prior convictions, guilty plea and remorse.
He instead gave Mr Ludowyk a 12-month good behaviour bond, fined him $1000, and ordered he pay $128 in costs to the DSE.
The court heard that the boa constrictor was euthanised because of the risk of disease.