Overview
- Authorities confiscated more than 100,000 live cockroaches—primarily Madagascar hissing and dubia species—from a commercial breeder in Bathurst, New South Wales, in what officials call the country’s largest illegal invertebrate seizure.
- The insects are valued at about AU$200,000 and are now being euthanized and disposed of by New South Wales biosecurity teams under federal guidance.
- Australia’s federal environment department says both species have not undergone environmental risk assessments and so cannot legally be imported, kept, bred, or sold in the country.
- Federal and state agencies are investigating the operation and have warned pet shops and reptile owners that possessing or trading prohibited exotic cockroaches could lead to seizures and penalties, though no charges have been announced.
- Biosecurity experts say the case exposes a hidden market for exotic feeder insects and underlines Australia’s strict import rules designed to protect native wildlife, agriculture, and prevent new diseases.