KEY POINTS:
Eleven illegally imported reptiles face destruction after Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries staff took them from wildlife smugglers.
MAF snared eight iguanas, two emerald monitors and a rare blue tree monitor from various locations around the country after finding them advertised online.
Though no decision had yet been made about the fate of the animals, it was likely they would be destroyed, MAF spokesman Phil Barclay said.
He stressed this was not being done as a deterrent, but rather to protect native species -- the animals all had diseases previously unknown in New Zealand.
The iguanas carried a strain of salmonella that was not yet in the country. The monitors were infected with a blood parasite that could threaten New Zealand's own indigenous tuatara, geckos and skinks.
As the 11 lizards were smuggled into the country, they did not have the documentation to return them to where they came from.
They were being kept in isolation in Auckland zoo until their fate was decided.
All of the animals captured were "very small", Mr Barclay said.
"They were probably smuggled in either as hatchlings or eggs."
However, they wouldn't have stayed that way.
"Iguanas grow up to six feet long. To keep them, we are talking about having to have a special room in the house, with constant temperature of 25 to 30 degrees. That raises animal welfare issues," he said.
Mr Barclay advised members of the public offered exotic animals, like monkeys and reptiles, to ring MAF to check whether they were allowed in New Zealand.
"It's very much a case of buyer beware," he said.
Prosecution of those involved was likely.
- NZPA
