AP, WELLINGTON
More than 100,000 live cockroaches illegal to keep in Australia were confiscated from a single breeder in the country’s largest-ever seizure of exotic invertebrates, officials said yesterday.The haul of Madagascar hissing cockroaches and dubia cockroaches, worth A$200,000 (US$142,000), was seized last month from a commercial breeder in the city of Bathurst in New South Wales state, the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water said.The Madagascar hissing species is one of the world’s biggest cockroaches, measuring 5cm to 8cm in length.
An Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water staff member holds a Madagascar hissing cockroach, which was among 100,000 insects seized in Bathurst, Australia, on Tuesday.
Photographs released by the department showed a shiny, brown invertebrate larger than a person’s finger.It is much bigger than the country’s common Australian cockroach, which measures between 2.3cm and 3.6cm long.
Cockroaches flourish in Australia due to its sub-tropical climates and the country is home to hundreds of species.Bathurst snake catcher Stefanie Lesser told Australian Broadcasting Corp that the larger exotic species were likely being sold as a cost-effective reptile food because their large size meant fewer insects were needed.Officials urged pet owners to seek out crickets or wood roaches to feed their lizards instead.Madagascar hissing and dubia cockroaches are illegal to import into Australia. They cannot be legally kept, bred or sold no matter how they were obtained, the department said in a statement.Exotic cockroaches “have not been subject to an environmental risk assessment” and they could spread disease or harm native wildlife, the statement said.Officials warned of prosecutions against those caught with the invertebrates.A spokesperson said charges were not laid against the Bathurst breeder.The cockroaches seized would be euthanized, the department said.
