Reptiles and amphibians
Man stopped with 300 tortoises and 77 parrots in Sicily
Italian police found the animals packed in a car at the port of Pozzallo, bound for Malta; 76 of the parrots belong to protected species.
Reported by The Guardian · · 1 min read
A Maltese man is facing animal cruelty charges after he allegedly tried to take 300 tortoises and 77 parrots from Sicily to Malta. The animals were found packed into a car near the boarding area for a Malta-bound catamaran during an inspection at the port of Pozzallo, the local unit of Italy’s financial police said on Monday.
Police said the car had too little space and no proper temperature control. Veterinarians later found that 76 of the parrots belonged to species protected by the Washington convention, the 1973 agreement that restricts international trade in endangered plants and animals. Police described it as one of the most significant seizures under that convention. The animals have been placed in a breeding facility.
The man faces charges of keeping animals in conditions incompatible with their nature and causing them severe suffering, as well as breaking the rules on trade in protected species. The case comes a month after police found the dried head of a critically endangered crocodile in the luggage of an Italian man at Turin’s Caselle airport, after he flew in from Miami via Istanbul.
