118B   Buying, selling or possessing threatened species or endangered population

(1)  A person must not buy, sell or have in possession or control any animal or plant that is of, or is part of, a threatened species or an endangered population.

Penalty:

(a)  in respect of any species presumed extinct, any critically endangered species or any endangered species or endangered population—2,000 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years or both,

(b)  in respect of any vulnerable species—500 penalty units or imprisonment for 1 year or both.

(2)  The Governor may, by order published in the Gazette, exempt from subsection (1) threatened species named in the order, subject to such conditions and restrictions relating to the buying, selling or having in possession of any such threatened species as may be prescribed in the order.

(3)  A person must not to be convicted of an offence against this section of having in the person’s possession or control a plant of any threatened species if the plant is naturally occurring on land that the person owns or of which the person is the lessee or lawful owner.

(4)  It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against this section if the accused proves that the act constituting the alleged offence:

(a)  was authorised to be done, and was done in accordance with, a general licence under section 120, a licence under section 131, 132 or 132A, a scientific licence under section 132C or a licence granted under Part 6 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, or

(b)  was the subject of a certificate issued under section 95 (2) of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.

(5)  A person must not be convicted of an offence under this section in respect of the possession of any threatened species if the person satisfies the court that:

(a)  the species, being an animal, is the progeny of any animal lawfully in the possession of the person pursuant to a licence granted under this Act or under Part 6 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 and that progeny is less than 6 months old, or

(a1)  the act constituting the offence was authorised by, and done in accordance with, a conservation agreement, or

(a2)  the act constituting the offence was authorised by, and done in accordance with, a joint management agreement entered into under Part 7 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, or

(b)  the species, being an animal:

(i)  was incapable of fending for itself in its natural habitat, and

(ii)  the person notified the Director-General, in the manner and within the time prescribed by the regulations, that the animal came into the person’s possession, and

(iii)  the person complied with any direction given to the person about the animal by the Director-General, or

(c)  the species, being a plant, was propagated from a plant lawfully in the possession of a person pursuant to a licence granted under this Act or under Part 6 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, or

(d)  the act constituting the alleged offence was not done for commercial purposes and was done in relation to a plant that was cultivated by the person as a hobby or was cultivated by another person as a hobby, or

(e)  the act constituting the alleged offence was done in relation to a plant that was obtained from a person who was authorised to grow and sell it by a licence issued under section 132.

(6)  A reference in this section to a person’s having threatened species in the person’s possession includes a reference to the person having threatened species in a vehicle, building, lodging, apartment, field or other place whether belonging to or occupied by the person, and whether the species is then had or placed for the person’s own use or the use of another person.