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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1993
POSSESSING ENDANGERED SPECIES WITHOUT LICENCE AN OFFENCE
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REMINDED THAT ISSUED BY THE
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE TODAY (WEDNESDAY) POSSESSING ENDANGERED SPECIES WITHOUT VALID LICENCES AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES DEPARTMENT (AFD) IS AN OFFENCE.
THE REMINDER WAS ISSUED BY AFD'S ACTING SENIOR CONSERVATION OFFICER, MR MARTIN LEUNG KA-LOK, AFTER A 45-YEAR-OLD MAN WAS EARLIER TODAY (WEDNESDAY) FINED $5,000 BY A NORTH KOWLOON MAGISTRATE POSSESSING AN ASIATIC BLACK BEAR LAST JULY,
FOR
MR LEUNG SAID: "ASIATIC BLACK BEARS ARR HIGHLY ENDANGERED ANIMAL SPECIES PROTECTED UNDER THE ANIMALS AND PLANTS (PROTECTION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES) ORDINANCE, CAP 187, IN HONG KONG."
UNDER THE ORDINANCE, ANYONE FOUND GUILTY OF ILLEGALLY IMPORTING, EXPORTING OR POSSESSING THESE ANIMALS WILL BE LIABLE ON CONVICTION TO A MAXIMUM FINE OF $25,000 AND IN CASE OF A REPEATED OFFENCE A FINE OF $50,000 PLUS SIX MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT.
SEIZED ENDANGERED SPECIES WILL ALSO BE SUBJECT TO FORFEITURE.
MR LEUNG ALSO CALLED ON LOCAL RESIDENTS OR SEAMEN NOT TO BRING IN OR OUT OF HONG KONG ANY ENDANGERED SPECIES AT ALL TIME UNLESS ALL IMPORT AND EXPORT REQUIREMENTS ARE COMPLIED WITH.
CURRENTLY, OVER 9,000 SPECIES OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS, WHETHER ALIVE, DEAD, STUFFED SPECIMEN, PARTS OR DERIVATIVES ARE LISTED UNDER THE ORDINANCE.
MR LEUNG SAID SOME 74 PROSECUTIONS. WERE MADE AGAINST PEOPLE CONTRAVENING THE ORDINANCE IN THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, WITH FINES TOTALLING $178,400.
YEAR, WITH
THERE WERE 153 PROSECUTIONS EACH FOR 1991 AND LAST FINES AMOUNTING TO $213,750 AND $238,750 RESPECTIVELY, MR LEUNG ADDED.
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