Indian national Keerthi Raj Eswaran pleaded guilty to three counts relating to taking, possessing and storing animal specimens and selling them online, in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old also pleaded guilty to possessing firearms without a permit or licence.
The Australian Border Force (ABF), Northern Territory (NT) Parks and wildlife officials had recovered a pile of skulls and body parts of several native and non-native animals that were stacked in freezers and rotting away in buckets from Mr Eswaran’s house in a south-eastern suburb in Darwin, during a raid in 2018.
The authorities became aware of his illegal activities when they found a parcel containing skulls addressed to a collector in the US, which led to further investigations.
Of the items seized, the officials recovered body parts that belonged to a wombat, a red-tailed black cockatoo, a baboon, crocodile, chipmunks, bearded dragons, and an ocelot, besides other animals, most of whom are reportedly listed as ‘threatened' and/or 'endangered’ species.
In addition, parts of dogs, cats, goats, ducks and chickens were also recovered, besides fish and reptiles.
PREVIOUS OFFENCES:
However, this isn’t Mr Eswaran’s first offence, the court heard.
In 2017, he was jailed for 10 months suspended sentence for violating similar wildlife-related laws and possessing ammunition.
Meanwhile, defending Mr Eswaran’s actions, his lawyer Peter Maley told the court that his client was actually a ‘conservationist’ who loved animals and claimed that he’d never killed any animals himself.
MAXIMUM PENALTY:
Mr Eswaran is likely to be sentenced on May 22.
In Northern Territory, the maximum penalty for illegally taking or possessing protected wildlife is $77,500 or a 5-year jail term.
While for threatened wildlife, the maximum penalty is $155,000 or 10 years in jail.
