A German tourist was sentenced to jail after he admitted trying to smuggle native New Zealand geckos out of the country — the second such case in five weeks. He was caught with 13 adult geckos and three immature animals in the southern city of Christchurch on Feb. 16 by Conservation Department inspectors. The District Court in Christchurch was told nine of the 11 females were pregnant and expected to give birth to one or two young in the next few weeks. The animals had a value of 192,000 New Zealand dollars ($134,000) on the European market.Source: Christchurch Court News; find article here>>.
