Hong Kong animal smuggler held

A man was arrested at Hong Kong airport when authorities found rare and endangered animals in his suitcase- animals such as a live crocodile and 46 turtles and tortoises.

Also found in his bag were six snakes and 11 flying squirrels. The man has been charged with illegally importing animals and has been fined £1,000. On top of that, he received a six-month suspended sentence. It is believed that the animals were taken from Thailand as that is from where the man had flown. They were probably headed to mainland China where they might have been used as food or used for traditional medicinal purposes. The man was arrested because a special import permit and health certification are needed before one is allowed to bring reptiles, birds or mammals through Hong Kong. Many of the species the unnamed man was carrying are on the endangered species list, including the live crocodile, black pond turtles, three-keeled land tortoises, radiated tortoises, and true tortoises. I'm glad he was caught.. there was going to be no good end for those animals and animal smuggling is just another form of poaching. It's especially significant that most of the animals are on the endangered species list, including the crocodile which is listed as highly-endangered.