A 35-year-old illegal poacher has pleaded guilty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to possessing and exporting native and protected species on the black market.

Key points: Police executed a warrant at a property at Driver on on October 23 where they located the animal parts

Police executed a warrant at a property at Driver on on October 23 where they located the animal parts Lawyer Peter Maley described his client as a "conservationist" who was not running a major operation

Lawyer Peter Maley described his client as a "conservationist" who was not running a major operation Indian national Keerthi Raja Eswaran faces five years in jail

Australian Federal Police and NT Parks and Wildlife officers raided Indian national Keerthi Raja Eswaran's home in 2018 and found skulls and body parts in freezers and rotting away in buckets.

Some of the more bizarre parts came from both native Australian and non-native animals, including a wombat, bearded dragons, a crocodile, a red-tailed black cockatoo, a baboon and an ocelot.

Of the animal parts seized — a grim menagerie of arms, beaks, skulls and legbones — a number of species were listed on the Near Threatened and Endangered Species list.

There were also a number of domestic and farm animals in his skeletal collection, including dogs, goats, ducks and chickens.

Convicted poacher Keerthi Eswaran after pleading guilty to wildlife offences in the NT Supreme Court. ( ABC News: Kristy O'Brien )

Poacher was trying to sell skulls on eBay

Eswaran pleaded to three counts relating to having restricted wildlife in his possession as well as trying to sell them on eBay in 2018.

He was caught while trying to post a baboon skull to the US as well as trying to post wedge-tailed eagle feet, and magpie goose and ibis skulls.

Eswaran broke several laws under Commonwealth and Northern Territory legislation to possess protected wildlife without a permit and trying to export the body parts in contravention of international treaties to not encourage black-market trade in animals.

The court heard he had committed previous "firearms and possession" offences relating to the illegal trade of wildlife.

Skulls and bones found by rangers included a red-tailed black cockatoo, wombats and monkeys. ( Supplied: Parks and Wildlife )

Lawyer claims client a conservationist

Lawyer Peter Maley defended his client's actions by saying he was actually a conservationist who loved wildlife and he'd never shot any animals himself.

He pointed to his work as a "cane toad buster" and said there was "no suggestion he was trafficking live animals".

He claimed Eswaran was instead catering to a decorative skull market where people liked to display the skulls in their homes.

The former crocodile-park taxidermist maintained most of his work had been in stuffing cats, dogs and cane toads that people had become attached to.

The court heard he had been selling animals and body parts since 2015 on eBay and, according to those transactions, had fetched more than $69,000 selling 660 species.

Mr Maley said his client had only made about $1,000 all up from the recent sales of animal parts.

"So [it's] not a big operation … he's an enthusiast … he's not callously going about capturing native wildlife for export," Mr Maley said.

"As he says, he's a conservationist."

Eswaran was also charged with possessing ammunition, but said he had picked the stray bullets up around the place.

Eswaran faces up to five years' jail

Parks and Wildlife's Tracey Duldig has previously branded the arrest as "the product of months of close collaboration with the Australian Border Force".

"The taking and possession of illegal wildlife continues to be a threat to native animals," Ms Duldig said.

"Wildlife is one of the three highest illegally traded commodities in the world and this joint investigation is an example of a coordinated approach to effectively tackle wildlife crime."

The maximum penalty for illegally taking or possessing protected wildlife under the NT legislation is $77,500 or five years' imprisonment.

For threatened wildlife, the maximum penalty is $155,000 or 10 years' imprisonment.

Eswaran will be sentenced on May 22.