48 tarantulas killed in transit

21 January 2013 | Estella Naicker

A case of animal cruelty is being investigated after 48 tarantulas imported from a vague address in Germany were found dead at the Post Office.

KZN Wildlife recently intercepted a Newcastle package containing 48 baby tarantulas, imported from a vague address in Germany.

Sadly, due to the lengthy time the parcel spent in transit, all the tarantulas had died and a case of animal cruelty is being investigated.

Geoff Muller, who spoke on behalf of KZN Wildlife, said that the address the package was being sent to in Newcastle was also vague, which prompted post office personnel to look at the contents.

“The package was sent over the festive period and we suspect it was intended for either a collector or a distributor of tarantulas in Newcastle. However, we were unable to trace who sent the parcel and who was going to receive it. There was no documentation for the parcel and the declaration of contents was so badly written that we could not decipher what was being declared,” said Mr Muller.

KZN Wildlife authorities have undertaken to visit collectors and traders of exotic and wild species of pets to get to the bottom of this hairy incident.

Members of the community who may have any information about whom the package was intended for, should contact Mr Muller urgently on 083 309 0327.

“We generally discourage the public from buying exotic and wild species. If these animals escape from captivity, they cause havoc by multiplying, competing with indigenous wildlife for habitat, cross breeding and creating hybrids and they could also carry diseases, which they transmit to humans and indigenous wildlife. There is also the danger that a pet owner, who loses interest in the animal, will release it into the wild where it may starve to death,” warned Mr Muller.

Seems legit.
I once had a pokie escape that obviously mated with a Harpactira gigas that was living in my garden. The thing bit my dog which licked me and now I wake up in the morning, pressed against the ceiling with a half eaten chicken in my mouth.
Oh, and my armpits are the prettiest shade of yellow.

I respect NATCON and the huge challenges they face, but to declare: "If these animals escape from captivity, they cause havoc by multiplying, competing with indigenous wildlife for habitat, cross breeding and creating hybrids and they could also carry diseases, which they transmit to humans and indigenous wildlife." is irresponsible and just invites ridicule.

Whatever went wrong with the KZN thing, I'm sad that the spiders had to suffer.

This is so sad , how can people be so cruel, I hope the person who that packet was intented for, that their fingers turn into fishhooks and they get a bad, bad itch.

Shame about the spiders but remember it is because of these methods that you have all those different pretty tarantula species in your hobby.

Wow, I'm left speechless.
The "buyer" has hopefully lost a massive amount of money, however it doesn't help the poor animals that suffered a slow and painful death.
It still amazes me how easily things can be sent around whether locally or internationally with little to no information. I mean this parcel was sent anonymously to be collected anonymously, ridiculous!!!

For my work we regularly fly equipment between our branches. I only have to leave my name and number and the recipients name and number that can all be faked.
Nobody asks to check the items, etc yet it gets loaded onto the same plane that you and I board after going through multiple security checkpoints. Our equipment is also quite sophisticated electronics which in a x-ray would look pretty suspicious and yet we've never been stopped.

Ummm I think we all have a good idea who the package was for.... Probably 48 p.metallica from Germany. None the less how can they be charged for animal cruelty? When was a spider classed as an animal not to mention the fact that they had not taken possession of the said goods so they had no way to care for the goods. Yes NATCON could go after them for illegally importing ... NATCON would probably lose the case if it could be proven that species was already in the country and had already been successfully bread for the pet trade.

Just my 2c


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