A man from the Gold Coast got in trouble for recording himself taking his pet snake surfing. Australian wildlife officials gave him a fine.
A man named Higor Fiuza and his snake Shiva became famous when a video of them surfing went viral. But this also got the attention of wildlife protection officers.
They say that Higor put Shiva in danger and broke the rules for keeping a snake by taking her out in public.
The Department of Environment and Science in Queensland started looking into this after Higor talked to the local news. This week, they gave him a fine of A$2,322 (£1,207; $1,495).
Taking native pets out in public can stress them out and make them act in unexpected ways, said wildlife officer Jonathan McDonald. Snakes are usually not used to the cold and don’t like water much. Only sea snakes belong in the ocean.
This incident also raised worries about the safety of the public and the chance of the python spreading diseases to local wildlife, he added.
But Higor mentioned before that Shiva really enjoys the water and has surfed with him at least 10 times. He said, “I always took her to the beach, and she loved to be in the water swimming, so one day I decided to take her out for a swim, and she loved it.” Normally, if she doesn’t like something, she starts hissing, but she doesn’t do that in the water. She’s always calm.
Shiva isn’t the first animal to become famous for surfing at Rainbow Bay. There’s also a duck named Duck who’s a regular and has even been seen stealing waves from Australian surfing champ Steph Gilmore.
SOURCE:BBC
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