GRIZZLY FIND IN SMUGGLE HAUL Wildlife oddities seized by Revenue
THE pelt of a grizzly bear and the entire plumage of eight endangered condor birds were among items that people tried to illegally smuggle into the country last year.
The feathers of eight condors, an endangered species of vulture, were seized by Revenue in Cork Harbour last May after being shipped to Ireland from Ecuador.
Condors are the largest flying land birds in the West and have a wingspan of up to three metres. Their feathers and body parts are used in South America for alternative medicine, shamanic ceremonies and as souvenirs. A single condor feather can sell for between €45 and €100 online. Earlier that same month, the pelt of an entire grizzly bear was seized after it arrived at Dublin Parcel Hub. The large package was intercepted after it landed in Dublin from Canada, according to records released under freedom of information laws.
In August, an animal horn from an unknown species was seized at
Dublin Airport.
Horn
Another seizure took place at Dublin Airport in November, when a knife was confiscated from a traveller arriving from South Africa because its handle was made from a burned giraffe bone.
The items were all seized by Revenue officers under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Other items seized under CITES in the past have included a haul of 31 dead seahorses at Shannon Airport in 2019, and a
DOCTORS in Boston have transplanted a pig kidney into a 62-yearold patient, the latest experiment in the quest to use animal organs in humans.
Massachusetts General Hospital said Thursday that it’s the pair of alligator heads that were found in a package at Portlaoise Mail Centre, Co Laoise, during the same year.
In 2022, Revenue seized lion claws and ivory from a boat in the Shannon Estuary, which had travelled from Guinea in West Africa.
Officers have also confiscated dried snakes, wildcat teeth, a turtle shell and 2kg of meat from a nearthreatened species of antelope.
In 2018, Revenue seized 37 crocodile teeth in Portlaoise, Co Laoise, along with a horse’s tail, a dried bat and a moose horn.
A package of 89 dried insects was also intercepted, as well as two exotic beetles that had been alive when they were posted but died in transit. first time a genetically modified pig kidney has been transplanted into a living person. Previously, pig kidneys have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors.
Also, two men received heart transplants from pigs, although both died within months.
The patient, Richard “Rick” Slayman of Massachusetts, is recovering well from the surgery, and is expected to be discharged soon.