Australia Seizes 100,000 Illegal Exotic Cockroaches in Largest Invertebrate Bust

Australia has confiscated more than 100,000 illegal exotic cockroaches from a commercial breeder in New South Wales, in what officials described as the country’s largest seizure of exotic invertebrates.

The insects were collected as part of a raid in May at a Bathurst (west of Sydney) regional city property. Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has estimated the value of the haul was approximately AU$200,000 (US$142,000).

The seizure has raised awareness of an illegal importation of non-native insects and concerns regarding the risk of non-native insects being released into Australia, which could threaten agriculture and local ecology.

Both Madagascar hissing cockroaches and dubia cockroaches are prohibited in Australia, officials said. The species are not subject to Australian biosecurity laws and are therefore not legally able to be imported, bred, sold, or kept in Australia without an environmental risk assessment.

“We’re seeing illegal breeding and trading of exotic cockroaches and we’re putting pet businesses and pet owners on notice,” a spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said.

The department cautioned people that they could be subject to penalties for the possession, breeding or trade of detrimental insects under the federal law. The cockroaches were thought to have been raised for the exotic pet trade, as food for reptiles.

Due to their size and nutritional value, Dubia cockroaches are popular worldwide as a food source. Bathurst Snake Catcher Stefanie Lesser told ABC Australia that reptile owners find the insects more appealing than legal alternatives offered in Australia, as they are larger.

“People do have them because they are big,” Lesser said. “They probably are cost-effective” compared with feeding reptiles multiple smaller insects.

Reptile owners have been advised to use alternative species for their pets that have been approved by officials, such as crickets or wood roaches. The NSW authorities will destroy and destroy the insects in accordance with biosecurity requirements.

The breeder has not been charged with any offenses. But police said they are still working the case on illegal trading of insects and would warn that any further offences would be prosecuted.

The seizure has raised awareness of the extent of Australia’s illegal exotic insect trade and highlights the continuing work undertaken by authorities to block potentially destructive insects from entering the country.

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