FED: Whale souvenirs could cost more than exepected says Hill

AAP General News (Australia)
12-11-1999
FED: Whale souvenirs could cost more than exepected says Hill

CANBERRA, Dec 11 AAP - Anyone bringing home bits of whale could end up in strife, the
government warned today.

Environment minister Robert Hill said Australian Customs officers had been seizing
a growing quantity of whalebone souvenirs brought home by Australian tourists returning
from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Fiji.

Senator Hill said that included whale teeth and elaborate carvings made from the teeth
and whalebone from such species as Humpbacks, Gray, Southern Right and Killer Whales.

He said many of these whale products originated from northern Canada and Alaska where
the indigenous people, the Inuit, were permitted to take a limited number of whales.

"While it may be legal to purchase these items in the USA and Canada, all whale species
are protected under the Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982
and imports of any product into Australia from whales, dolphins and porpoises are prohibited,"

he said in a statement.

Senator Hill said many tourists were falsely told the products were fossilised. In
true fossilised bones, the calcium is replaced by minerals and they are no longer considered
animal products and import permits are not required.

He said a recent example involved a whalebone carving which the vendor claimed was
fossilised but which still had pieces of dried flesh attached.

Senator Hill said customs officers would confiscate any whale products brought into
Australia as souvenirs.

AAP mb/bdm

KEYWORD: WHALE

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