SINGAPORE - A 22-year-old has been fined $3,600 for possessing illegal wildlife, including a civet cat and a red-foot tortoise.

Desiree Lim was nabbed after the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) received feedback from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) that illegal wildlife was being sold on online marketplace Carousell.

AVA subsequently carried out a sting operation with the assistance of Acres and seized the animals.

"Further investigations at Lim's home revealed that she was also keeping a hedgehog and a snapping turtle," said the AVA in a statement on Wednesday (June 13). "This was taken into consideration during sentencing."

The seized animals were placed under the care of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

In a separate incident, a 23-year-old man was fined $5,000 for illegally importing a live bird into Singapore. Lim Ke Yi had hidden the white-rumped shama in a potato chip tube, which he had put in the glove compartment of a car.

The bird was detected by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority at Woodlands checkpoint, and the AVA was alerted to the situation.

Lim did not have an import licence for the bird. A second charge of failure to consider that the animal was not subjected to unnecessasry suffering was also taken into consideration.

Those who import animals or birds without a licence can be fined up to $10,000, jailed up to 12 months, or both.

Those who keep or trade wildlife and wildlife parts or products can be fined up to $1,000.

If the wildlife is protected under the Convention of Internationl Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), they can be fined up to $500,000, jailed up to two years, or both.

Those who suspect illegal wildlife trading to be going on can alert the AVA via its online feedback form, or call them on 6805-2992.