Fifty live crocodiles seized at international airport
Fifty crocodiles due to be bred for meat on a farm have been seized at Heathrow Airport.
The juvenile Saltwater crocodiles, each around a foot in length, had been packed into five boxes and weighed around 40kg in total.
They were found by staff from City of London Corporation who were making welfare checks on the shipment, which had arrived on a cargo ship from Malaysia.
Although a permit was in place to allow the live creatures to be transported on the plane, it was discovered they had not been packed in accordance with regulations.
There was room for four crocodiles in each box, but 10 had been squeezed into each one.
The year-old animals had also started to fight, as they hadn’t been packed individually – a requirement under International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations.
Grant Miller, head of the national Border Force CITES team at Heathrow, said: ‘It is just not acceptable for reptiles to be transported in this way.
“The crocodiles had started to fight each other during the flight as space was limited, so little attention had been paid to their welfare.”
Andrea Gruber, International Air Transport Association’s head of Special Cargo, said: “The IATA Live Animals Regulations are the worldwide standard for transporting live animals by air and have been established to ensure all animals are transported safely and humanely”.
“Industry must comply with the Regulations, which are enforced by government authorities. Any failure to meet with the existing requirements can impact animal safety and welfare.”
One crocodile did not survive the journey but the remaining 49 are being cared for and will be safely re-homed.
