More wildlife smuggling from KL thwarted in India airport

Customs officers at Trichy Airport in India have intercepted the attempted smuggling of two Malayan giant squirrels from Kuala Lumpur on Sept 29.

The protected species were allegedly carried “in concealment” by an airline passenger, the Trichy Customs (Preventive) Commission said on Wednesday.

The species is prohibited from import and is listed in Schedule 1 of the country’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Appendix 2 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).

As such, the animals were seized and handed over to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, which sent the squirrels to the Guindy Wildlife Park in Chennai.

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department also remanded three individuals who were the alleged intended recipients of the squirrels.

The Malayan giant squirrel, also known as the black giant squirrel, is one of the largest of the squirrel species. It weighs around 1.05 to 1.25kg and has a head-to-body length of 34-37 cm.

It is categorised as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because it is “vulnerable to endangerment in the near future”.

Snakes on a plane

This is not the first time wildlife has been seized at the airport during attempted smuggling by passengers arriving from Kuala Lumpur.

On July 29, an Indian national arrived at the Trichy Airport from Kuala Lumpur on a Batik Air flight, with 47 pythons concealed in his suitcase.

The month before that, customs officers there intercepted 6,850 live red-eared sliders - a species of turtle - in the checked-in luggage of two passengers arriving from Kuala Lumpur.

In April, a woman travelled to Chennai from Kuala Lumpur with 22 snakes in her suitcase. - Mkini