'Wild Recon' Host Accused Of Selling Rare Lizards
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former host of Animal Planet's "Wild Recon" show has been charged with selling two endangered Iranian desert monitor lizards without a permit.
City News Service says Donald Schultz, a herpetologist based in Southern California, was charged Thursday in Los Angeles with violating the federal Endangered Species Act. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.
A message left for Schultz on his Facebook page wasn't immediately returned Friday.
Authorities say Schultz sold the rare lizards for $2,500 to an undercover federal wildlife agent who answered his 2010 offer on Facebook.
On his now-cancelled show, Schultz would parachute into remote locations to take biological samples from deadly snakes and other dangerous animals.
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