Philippine customs officials were astonished when they opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in from Poland and found hundreds of live tarantulas. Philippine customs officials were astonished when they opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in from Poland and found hundreds of live tarantulas. Bureau of Customs personnel seized the 757 tarantulas at a post exchange centre near Manila’s international airport on Monday and later arrested a Filipino man who tried to claim the long-legged and venomous spiders, which were declared as “collection items”. One of the 757 Tarantulas flown in from Poland (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)Philippine wildlife laws prohibit the trading, collection and possession of such spiders, which are popular pets among arachnid enthusiasts, without permits. Despite threats of hefty fines and imprisonment, a startling array of wildlife have been seized by customs inspectors by the hundreds in Manila since last year, including geckos, iguanas, chameleons and a popular reptile called bearded dragons.

Source: Irish Independent April 03, 2019 08:37 UTC