Alligator feet as a gift

A curious find in a postal package

Customs officers at the Gelsenkirchen customs office discovered a curious find in a postal package at the end of November 2022.

A 48-year-old man was set to receive four Mississippi alligator feet, mounted on wooden sticks, as a gift shipment from the USA.

Mississippi alligators are listed under the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Appendix II, under European species protection law in Annex B, and under the Federal Nature Conservation Act these alligators are even specially protected. The import of live or dead animals of this species into the European Union requires a permit.

Fine threatened

Since the required permit for this shipment could not be produced, the unusual “scratch sticks” have since been confiscated.

The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation will now decide whether they will be used as a deterrent example for educational and training purposes or destroyed. Those involved face a fine.

In postal or courier traffic, the species protection regulations and documentation requirements must be observed without restriction for both import and export. Without the required permit for the import or export of species-protected animals, plants or items made from them, not only is confiscation of the goods threatened, but also the imposition of a fine. More on the topic of wildlife crime.