Customs at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport has seized hundreds of skulls of protected monkey species. The skulls of the monkeys and other animals were largely in packages from Cameroon, customs said on Thursday. The recipients were collectors and hunting clubs in the US who used the skulls as gifts or prizes.
Some packages also contained whole specimens or forearms with hands, which were destroyed for health reasons. No species protection approval was required for any item.
Paris customs makes these kinds of discoveries every day
In addition to monkeys, other species such as otters, big cats, monitor lizards and birds of prey are also smuggled, according to customs. Customs officials at France’s largest airport made similar discoveries almost every day.
Monkey expert stunned: “Stupid and scandalous”
On Thursday, customs handed over 700 monkey and animal skulls seized between May and December 2022 to the Natural History Museum in Aix-en-Provence, which plans to examine and exhibit them. “I am appalled to imagine our closest relatives, monkeys and apes, being decimated and the rainforests stripped of their endangered biodiversity for a deal that is as stupid as it is outrageous,” said the museum’s ape expert, Prof. Sabrina Krief
Source: Krone
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