Dr Anna Wong, director of wildlife trade at NParks said yesterday that the agency has been alerted to a case of animal smuggling on Scoot flight TR540 which departed Singapore on Nov 7.
Scoot said that it was aware of the “incident involving exotic animals brought into Coimbatore”, the second largest city after Chennai in Tamil Nadu, and that the airline was working closely with the authorities.
Dr Wong said that investigations were ongoing.
“The import and export of all animals into Singapore requires prior approval from NParks. In addition, Singapore is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) and is committed to international effort to curb illegal wildlife trade,” she added.
The import, export, and re-export of Cites specimens – which include live animals, animal parts, and animal-based products – are regulated through permits which are issued only when certain trade conditions are met.
The Times of India reported on Nov 10 that customs officers in Coimbatore International Airport had found the exotic animals in three pieces of luggage left unclaimed on the conveyor belt at the baggage claim area.
The animals found included exotic species of tarantulas, tortoise species such as the albino red eared slider, red-eared slider and African spurred tortoise, as well as royal pythons.
Airline staff contacted three passengers over the phone regarding the unclaimed bags, The Times of India said, adding that two men, identified only as Dominic and Ramasamy, were detained by customs officers for questioning.
Preliminary investigations had revealed that the trio had intended to smuggle the animals from Singapore as part of the illegal pet trade, said the newspaper.
Officers from the Indian Forest Service were also involved in the investigations.
The Straits Times
