In his new book, THE LIZARD KING, Bryan Christy tells the true story of America's biggest reptile smuggler and the federal agent who risks his career to stop him. On the surface, Mike Van Nostrand's company, Strictly Reptiles of Hollywood, Florida, is the world's largest reptile import-export company, legally selling hundreds of thousands of snakes, lizards, frogs, turtles, scorpions and other creepy crawlies to zoos and pet stores each year.
But to Special Agent Chip Bepler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Strictly Reptiles is also the brains and bank behind a global criminal smuggling network run by Van Nostrand and his father.
Christy takes readers on a wild ride into a criminal wildlife smuggling jungle extending from South Florida to Europe, terminating in a Southeast Asian mastermind who uses cheap reptiles as a front to traffic the world's most precious reptiles, birds, and mammals.
THE LIZARD KING is the story of crafty smugglers supplying rare animals to collectors and zoo curators worldwide; it is the story of an amazing multi-million dollar industry in genetically-designed snakes selling for $100,000; and it is a story of obsession.
And not just the bad guys'. In researching this book, Bryan Christy was bitten between the eyes by a blood python, chased by a mother alligator, sprayed by a bird-eating tarantula, and ejaculated on by a Bengal tiger. The result is a story that will fascinate and amaze you...
Here’s the tragic video that is rocking the reptile-keeping world.
(Here’s the news story). The snake appears to be an adolescent albino Burmese python, about the size most people who keep them want to see. There have been very few deaths from pet pythons or boas in the United States, but this episode underscores the shameful lack of responsibility leaders in the reptile industry have shown by making Burmese and reticulated pythons cornerstones of the reptile trade, selling hundreds of thousands to teenagers every year. There has recently been some outrageous state and federal legislation floating around to eliminate keeping exotic pets. That legislation overshoots its mark in many respects but its genesis can be traced to many in the reptile industry–big and small. Many sell reptiles totally inappropriate to the average keeper (giant pythons, monitor lizards, alligators) and some prominent dealers regularly import from known wildlife smugglers–exporters who also traffic some of the world’s rarest plants, birds and mammals.
It might not have been possible to avoid this terrible death, but it would certainly have been possible to avoid the Everglades python story, the Cape Coral Nile Monitor story, and others that seem destined to doom reptile keeping. Leaders in the industry need to stand up and take on self-regulation with teeth. If they don’t, someone with no love at all for reptiles is bound to take over.
It’s worth noting that this photo represents roughly half of the entire U.S. wildlife inspector force policing our ports and borders, from Alaska to Florida. While researching The Lizard King I asked how many USFWS special agents we had in the U.S., and how many wildlife inspectors. The first time I heard the answer I thought I was being given the figures for Florida or New York instead of for the whole country. Answers: approx. 185 USFWS special agents and 120 inspectors to cover all fifty states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and overseas postings.
I am very pleased to announce that I’ve been invited to speak as part of the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division’s Centennial Speakers Series. I will be speaking June 18 in DOJ’s Great Hall. This is an invitation only event and a great honor. You can read about ENRD’s history and the 100 Year Anniversary here.
Some turtles breathe out of their, er, butts. The Australian "bum breathing" turtles have evolved a gill-like breathing mechanism inside their cloacas, the organ where waste and reproductive tracts end. One, Elseya irwini is named
after Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. His species and others are at growing risk.
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