Palmerston North lizard enthusiast charged, fined for not having permit for 60 reptiles

An Otago skink was among the reptiles confiscated from Richard Brosnan. Photo / Richard Brosnan

A lizard enthusiast claims the Department of Conservation has crushed his passion for reptiles after he had more than 60 confiscated and he was taken to court and fined.

Richard Brosnan said two police officers and three DoC rangers arrived at the door of his Palmerston North home last year and took away 13 skinks and around 50 geckos he had in his possession.

“The animals I had represented 30 years of hard work … It was a passion for me and they’ve ruined that,” Brosnan told NZME.

“I don’t know if I’ll get that passion back, but I hope so because they really are amazing animals.”

But DoC said Brosnan should have known better than to have had the reptiles in his possession without a permit, and that some had been kept by him in “illegal captivity”.

Today, Brosnan appeared in the Palmerston North District Court charged with 11 breaches of the Wildlife Act.

While he was fined $7000, Judge Jonathan Krebs acknowledged Brosnan had a storied history as a lizard enthusiast and said his breach was not as serious as DoC alleged.

“It’s a bit like someone who is driving an otherwise warrantable car but just hasn’t got an active warrant for it,” Judge Krebs said at the sentencing.

Judge Krebs said there was no doubt Brosnan would have been granted a permit if he had applied for one and there was no implication he was involved in any kind of illicit breeding programme, nor in the export of native species to overseas markets.

A female Nelson Lakes gecko. Photo / Richard Brosnan

Brosnan said his love of native lizards dated back 45 years and during that time he assisted DoC and Auckland Zoo with breeding the animals.

In New Zealand, people are required to have a Wildlife Act authorisation to hold lizards.

“I applied for a lifetime permit to keep them when I was 8 years old,” he told NZME, “but neither me, nor DoC could find any record of it in the archives.”

He then applied for a permit in 2013 but it lapsed in 2017.

“By my own admission I did let my licence lapse, in the eyes of the law I didn’t have the authority to keep them,” he said.

But still, he felt DoC had “thrown the book at him”, despite his history of advocacy work for the reptiles.

“I take them into schools to educate kids … I wasn’t hiding anything. If I was intentionally doing anything dodgy I wouldn’t be advertising it, would I?

“I am pissed, to put it mildly.”

Richard Brosnan's gecko enclosure at his home. Photo / Richard Brosnan

Conversely, following Brosnan’s sentencing, DoC issued a press release championing the return of three native geckos to the wild after “years in illegal captivity”.

The release said DoC principal investigations officer Matt Davis became aware of Brosnan’s unauthorised keeping and trading of native reptiles on Facebook.

In an interview with DoC investigators, Brosnan claimed he had been authorised to keep lizards by the Wildlife Service – a government entity that ceased to exist after the creation of DoC in 1987.

However, he couldn’t provide a copy of the permit, and DoC staff could not find any record of it despite an extensive search of its archives.

“Mr Brosnan knew from his previous experience what his obligations and responsibilities were – and he continued keeping lizards despite not holding the relevant permit,” Davis said.

“For DoC, that is unacceptable, and it motivated us to take action which has led to today’s court hearing – an outcome which could’ve been avoided.”

Brosnan told NZME he had taken three geckos from the wild because he had seen them being attacked by wasps.

“I knew I shouldn’t have taken them but it’s hard for anyone with a passion for animals to simply let them die,” he said.

DoC said the geckos were flown from Palmerston North to Christchurch and were released back into the Southern Alps.

In fining Brosnan, Judge Krebs said he did not deserve anywhere near the maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine or two years in prison.

But he did warn him to have his paperwork in order if his enthusiasm for reptiles continued.

“Don’t go sending them overseas.”

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.