Sure, they're cute... but smuggling in $500 gecko from Australia? Why?

Ah, the tapestry of the truly bizarre… where else but America?

The LA Times reports on a man trying to smuggle 15 live lizards… gecko, skinks, and monitor lizards… from Australia into the United States. The approximate value of his live, wiggling contraband? About $8,500… and the fine for being caught is placed at a whopping $250,000 and up to 20 years in prison.

So, some quick mental math here… at about $9,000 per trip between Los Angeles and Australia, less the $1,000 for the plane ticket, the smuggler would need only 32 trips to make the amount that’s going to lose for getting caught.

And for what? Live lizards? I had no idea there was any underground whatsoever for illegally imported cold-bloods. Are live lizards a Western aphrodisiac? The most common reason for rational people to act like total idiots: tell them something rare and expensive will help their sex life. Or are the thousands of little children who can’t afford the expensive lizards from the pet stores and this generous soul was going to donate the cute little imports orphans and the poor?

There are aspects of modern society that just bewilder me… the only thing I would find more confusing is if the license necessary to import the lizards was inexpensive and easily obtained… that would totally transform this from ridiculous to outright insanity.

I am glad that the guy got caught (as light as I’m making of this particular situation, smuggling live animals into non-native habitats can be an extremely dangerous risk… just look at the rabbits in Australia as an unfortunate example), but the fact that he thought he could get away with it will leave me shaking my head in confusion for days.

Live lizards! Into America! Just plain weird.