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US Fish and Wildlife Service

Butterfly Smuggler Shipped $200K Of Wildlife In And Out Of Commack: Authorities Butterfly Smuggler Shipped $200K Of Wildlife In And Out Of Commack: Authorities
Butterfly Smuggler Shipped $200K Of Wildlife In And Out Of Commack: Authorities A Long Island man has been indicted on accusations that he covered up illegal shipments of over 1,000 insects, moths, and endangered butterflies, authorities said. On Tuesday, Oct. 10, 75-year-old Charles Limmer of Commack was charged on six counts for his alleged wildlife smuggling, including dead specimens of a protected butterfly species, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Limmer was the operator of a commercial business specializing in importing, exporting, buying, and selling wildlife. He had a license to do so from the US Fish and Wildlife Se…
Manatee Spotted In Waters By New London County After Traveling Hundreds Of Miles: Here's Where Manatee Spotted In Waters By New London County After Traveling Hundreds Of Miles: Here's Where
Manatee Spotted In Waters By New London County After Traveling Hundreds Of Miles: Here's Where Officials and scientists are monitoring the first manatee to be spotted in waters off Southern New England in seven years.  The manatee was seen in Quonochontaug Pond in Rhode Island, which is located on the state's coastline just over five miles from the Connecticut border, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announced on Monday, Sept. 11.  The sighting is the first time a manatee has been seen in Southern New England since 2016 since a member of the species was spotted off the coast of Cape Cod, officials said. Officials from the DEM, the US Fish …
Dead Snakes, Seahorses Seized From Travelers At Washington Dulles Airport Dead Snakes, Seahorses Seized From Travelers At Washington Dulles Airport
Dead Snakes, Seahorses Seized From Travelers At Washington Dulles Airport Snakes, snake oil, sea horses, prohibited pork, and snail ointment were seized from travelers at Washington Dulles International Airport this month, officials said. The first traveler, who arrived on Aug. 1 from Vietnam, was destined to Fairfax, and referred to a secondary baggage examination, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced. CBP agriculture specialists and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) inspectors discovered prohibited pork, but also found 77 dry seahorses, five jars of snail ointment, and five dead snakes. The import of the seahorses, snakes, and snail oint…
Feds Put Stop To Animal Transporter Year After Crash Left Monkeys Running Around Pennsylvania Feds Put Stop To Animal Transporter Year After Crash Left Monkeys Running Around Pennsylvania
Feds Put Stop To Animal Transporter Year After Crash Left Monkeys Running Around Pennsylvania The animal trucking company involved in a high-profile crash that had escaped monkeys running around Pennsylvania has been shut down by federal officials. PETA apparently submitted evidence to the US Department of Transportation that Quebedeaux’s Transport appeared to be illegally transporting monkeys to labs, the organization said in a news release. An email from the DOT obtained by Daily Voice confirms Quebedeaux’s Transport, Jeff Quebedeaux, is "out of the transportation business." In January 2022, a trailer carrying 100 monkeys overturned in a crash with a dump truck on …
Bones Of Giraffe, Zebra Seized From Traveler's Bag At Dulles Airport After Africa Trip Bones Of Giraffe, Zebra Seized From Traveler's Bag At Dulles Airport After Africa Trip
Bones Of Giraffe, Zebra Seized From Traveler's Bag At Dulles Airport After Africa Trip US Customs and Border Protection agents at Washington Dulles International Airport had a bone to pick with some souvenirs a Virginia woman attempted to bring home from a trip to Africa. During a secondary baggage exam from a recent flight from Kenya back to the DMV region, agriculture specialists discovered bones that a Fauquier County woman admitted were giraffe and zebra bones she found during her trip and kept as keepsakes. The bones were recovered by the specialists and checked by US Fish and Wildlife Service inspectors, according to officials. They were ultimately found to be in vio…
Bat Population Ravaged By Fungus Listed As 'Endangered' By US Fish And Wildlife Service Bat Population Ravaged By Fungus Listed As 'Endangered' By US Fish And Wildlife Service
Bat Population Ravaged By Fungus Listed As 'Endangered' By US Fish And Wildlife Service President Joe Biden has added a new species of bat to the country’s endangered list in a final effort to spare the animal after it was devastated by a fungal disease that decimated its population over the past several years. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has reclassified the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) as endangered as the species faces extinction due to the impacts of white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease that affects hibernating bats across North America. As of 2015, the species was listed as “threatened," but as the impacts of the disease continue to rapidly expa…
Bald Eagle Euthanized After Being Struck By Car In Manorville Bald Eagle Euthanized After Being Struck By Car In Manorville
Bald Eagle Euthanized After Being Struck By Car In Manorville A bald eagle has died after being struck by a car on Long Island, state wildlife officials announced. Suffolk County Police were called Thursday, Sept. 22, with reports of a bald eagle that had been struck by a vehicle in Manorville on the Sunrise Highway. Police requested additional support from officers with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), who helped safely capture the juvenile bird and place it in a cage, the agency said. The animal was then taken to a local rehabilitator for an X-ray and further treatment. Upon closer examination, however, the rehabilitator disco…
Jersey Shore Man Who Labeled Shipment Of Iguanas As Toys Sentenced To Home Confinement Jersey Shore Man Who Labeled Shipment Of Iguanas As Toys Sentenced To Home Confinement
Jersey Shore Man Who Labeled Shipment Of Iguanas As Toys Sentenced To Home Confinement UPDATE: A Jersey Shore man who falsely labeled a package containing 10 live iguanas bound for Hong Kong as “toys" was sentenced by a federal judge Tuesday to a plea-bargained six months of home confinement as part of three years probation. Jason Ksepka, 44, of Farmingdale, also was prohibited from "harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, trapping, capturing, or collecting wildlife or attempting to engage in such conduct," U.S Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said. U.S. District Judge Zahid Quraishi also barred him from the "the import, export, transport, s…
Jersey Shore Man Admits Labeling Hong Kong-Bound Shipment Of Iguanas As 'Toys' Jersey Shore Man Admits Labeling Hong Kong-Bound Shipment Of Iguanas As 'Toys'
Jersey Shore Man Admits Labeling Hong Kong-Bound Shipment Of Iguanas As 'Toys' A Jersey Shore man admitted Tuesday that he falsely labeled a package containing 10 live iguanas bound for Hong Kong as “toys," federal authorities said. Jason Ksepka, 44, of Farmingdale, shipped the package via U.S. Priority Mail Express from the post office in Lambertville, Acting U.S Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. An unidentified sender paid him $500 to falsely label the package and ship it to Hong Kong, on top of $500 that he’d already given him, Honig said. Ksepka labeled the contents as “Toys” and the sender as “Luke Jacobs” on a U.S. Postal Service international shipping label and…
Tiny Goldfish Dumped In Lakes Are Growing To Football Size As Officials Issue Warning Tiny Goldfish Dumped In Lakes Are Growing To Football Size As Officials Issue Warning
Tiny Goldfish Dumped In Lakes Are Growing To Football Size As Officials Issue Warning Do not release your pet goldfish in lakes or ponds. That's what officials are saying after a huge goldfish was recently pulled from a Minnesota lake, an issue that has been seen across the United States in recent years. National Geographic said while a goldfish typically weighs just 0.2 to 0.6 pounds, they can weigh more than five pounds in the wild, CBS News reported. "They grow bigger than you think and contribute to poor water quality by mucking up the bottom sediments and uprooting plants," the City of Burnsville, Minnesota, tweeted on Friday, July 9.  In recent years, huge g…
Feds: Chinese Citizen Who Financed $2.25M Exotic Turtle-Smuggling Operation Extradited To NJ Feds: Chinese Citizen Who Financed $2.25M Exotic Turtle-Smuggling Operation Extradited To NJ
Feds: Chinese Citizen Who Financed $2.25M Exotic Turtle-Smuggling Operation Extradited To NJ A Chinese citizen who bankrolled the smuggling of $2.25 million worth of rare, protected turtles out of the United States was extradited from Malaysia to face federal charges in New Jersey, authorities said. Kang Juntao, 24, of Hangzhou City, China, financed a nationwide ring of criminals who smuggled at least 1,500 protected turtles out of the U.S., many of whom were bound with duct tape and stuffed into socks, Justice Department officials said Thursday. “Wildlife trafficking is a serious crime that impacts imperiled species at home and abroad,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aure…
Exotic Animal Smuggler In Worcester Sentenced For International Crimes Exotic Animal Smuggler In Worcester Sentenced For International Crimes
Exotic Animal Smuggler In Worcester Sentenced For International Crimes A man who was illegally smuggling salamanders and turtles has been found guilty and sentenced for the crimes. Nathan Boss, 27, of Worcester, was sentenced to two years of supervised release with the first five months to be served in home confinement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts said Monday, Oct. 5. Boss is also not allowed to possess any wildlife and he must complete a community service project, Judge Timothy S.Hillman ruled. In June Boss pleaded guilty to two counts of smuggling wildlife into the U.S., two counts of smuggling wildlife out of the eU.S., and making a false sta…
Bald Eagle Stolen From Quogue Wildlife Refuge Bald Eagle Stolen From Quogue Wildlife Refuge
Bald Eagle Stolen From Quogue Wildlife Refuge A bald eagle was stolen from a wildlife refuge on Long Island, according to police. Officers responded to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge at 3 Old County Road Tuesday, July 16 on a report of a missing bald eagle, according to the Quogue Village Police Department. This allegedly occurred between 3 and 4 p.m., said the report. Refuge staff reportedly told officers that a male bald eagle approximately 35 years old with a partially amputated right wing had been removed from its cage and was unable to be located, said police. Officers investigated and saw that the eagle's enclosure had bee…
NJ Pet Salesman Gets Home Confinement For Importing Black Scorpions, Giant Millipedes NJ Pet Salesman Gets Home Confinement For Importing Black Scorpions, Giant Millipedes
NJ Pet Salesman Gets Home Confinement For Importing Black Scorpions, Giant Millipedes A group of live scorpions and other endangered species who escaped from an international parcel on its way from Tanzania to the U.S. first brought attention to a Central Jersey pet salesman who was ordered to never do it again. He didn’t listen, though. He even posted photos from his collection while seeking buyers on Facebook – featuring, among others, the immense and popular black scorpion, which glows green or blue under ultraviolet light. A federal judge in Trenton this week sentenced Wlodzimie Lapkiewicz, 30, to six months home confinement and four years’ probation for illegally smuggl…
Man Caught At JFK Airport With Smuggled Finches Used In Singing Contests Hidden In Hair Curlers Man Caught At JFK Airport With Smuggled Finches Used In Singing Contests Hidden In Hair Curlers
Man Caught At JFK Airport With Smuggled Finches Used In Singing Contests Hidden In Hair Curlers A 39-year-old man was nabbed by customs officials attempting to smuggle 34 live finches into the country to be used in singing contests in Brooklyn and Queens. Francis Gurahoo, 39, of East Hartford, Connecticut, was arrested on Sunday, June 16, at John F. Kennedy International Airport with the finches stashed inside plastic hair curlers, said John Marzulli, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. According to an arrest document, the smuggled finches are used in singing contests in Brooklyn and Queens and wages are placed on the birds …