Man Tries to Smuggle Bird Eggs in Undies

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"....a customs officer frisked him and noticed a suspicious bulge around his groin...."
That could have been potentially embarrassing.

Man Tries to Smuggle Bird Eggs in Undies

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A man caught with six eggs from endangered species in his underwear as he was preparing to fly to Bangkok was fined 25,000 Australian dollars ($20,000) Monday by a judge who rejected his claim that he only wanted to surprise his girlfriend.

Wayne Frederick Floyd pleaded guilty in February to exporting regulated native specimens without a permit or exemption, an offense that carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

Although Judge Martin Sides called it a commercial venture, he said he didn't mandate jail time because the eggs had come from a collection of birds at Floyd's home and hadn't been taken from the wild.

Floyd was about to board a flight from Sydney to Bangkok, Thailand, last November when a customs officer frisked him and noticed a suspicious bulge around his groin, the New South Wales District Court was told. A strip search revealed six eggs hidden inside a stocking in his underwear.

The judge rejected Floyd's claim that he was trying to take the eggs overseas "to surprise his girlfriend."

Two of the eggs never hatched. The others contained two gang gang cockatoos and two galahs, both listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which includes species facing extinction unless trade in them is controlled. A galah or cockatoo egg can fetch tens of thousands of dollars when sold overseas.

http://ak.imgfarm.com/images/ap/AUSTRALIA_EGG_SMUGGLER.sff_SYD801_20060717035236.jpg

Photo released by the Australian Customs Service, an official shows the six eggs from endangered species that was discovered in a man's underwear as he was preparing to fly to Bangkok. Wayne Frederick Floyd pleaded guilty in February to exporting regulated native specimens without a permit or exemption was fined 25,000 Australian dollars (US$20,000) Monday, July 17, 2006 by a judge who rejected his claim that he only wanted to surprise his girlfriend.

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There's certain breeds of cockatoos of which there aren't many around, but I don't know how they class galahs as endangered. The bloody things are everywhere. But there's been long standing bans on the export of native Australian birds, for one reason or another.

http://www.birdsnways.com/mowen/galah3.jpg

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The Galah is one of the most widespread of Australia's parrots, being found in all states. It is only absent from the most arid country and from the tip of Cape York. It prefers open grasslands and woodland, is a common species in the cities and towns, and has adapted well to farmed land. The species is gregarious, often forming flocks of several hundreds, although when foraging for food these large flocks will often split into small groups, coming together again at the evening roost site. Feeding is often done on the ground and their food in the wild is dominantly seed, nuts and fruit, and they can cause major damage to cultivated grain crops. For this reason the bird is regarded as a pest species in many parts of its range, and licensed culling is permitted in certain states.

The breeding season extends from July to December in the south and February to July in the tropical north. A nesting hollow is lined with leaves and twigs carried into the nest, and usually 3 or 4 eggs are laid. Incubation is shared by both parents over a 30 day period and the babies leave the nest at about 8 weeks old.

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