Bangkok: Man Tries to Board Plane with Suitcases Full of Wildlife
Airport authorities in Bangkok yesterday (Feb. 9) stopped a man attempting to board a plane with some unusual luggage in tow — three suitcases stuffed full of live animals.
The bags were crammed with pythons, boa constrictors, squirrels, spiders, lizards, frogs, a parrot and more than 100 tortoises — including one of the world’s rarest, a ploughshare tortoise. The species is critically endangered. Only about 200 adult ploughshare tortoises are thought to still be alive on the planet, according to 2008 estimates.
Agents first became suspicious when the 34-year-old Indonesian man’s bags went through the usual airport screening process. Scans of the bags revealed images of what looked like wild animals inside.
