Brazil Seizes 63 Wild Bird Eggs at Two Airports on One Day: All Travellers Involved Were Chinese Nationals, With Nearly 200 Eggs Seized Since September
SAO PAULO — Brazil's environmental agency Ibama said on November 4 that it and the Federal Police had seized 16 wild bird eggs at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo state on November 3, carried secretly by a Chinese national who had arrived from Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, and was preparing to board a flight to Doha, Qatar.
Ibama said the man carried some of the eggs in socks strapped to his legs and the rest in a bag. The birds belong to the parrot order — parrots and macaws — which play a key role in seed dispersal. He was fined 8,000 reais for transporting wildlife specimens without authorisation, and the 16 eggs were sent to the São Paulo state wildlife triage and rehabilitation centre for incubation and care.
The same day, at Foz do Iguaçu International Airport, Federal Police routine screening found 47 wild bird eggs carried by another Chinese national: X-rays showed the eggs hidden inside chocolate boxes. The 44-year-old man, who was bound for Congonhas Airport in São Paulo, was arrested on the spot, and the eggs were sent to the Federal University of Fronteira Sul in Realeza for assessment and care. The two airports together yielded 63 eggs in one day.
According to Ibama and Brazilian media tallies, nearly 200 wild bird eggs have been seized at Brazilian airports and on highways since September, in cases all involving Chinese nationals, most of them attempting to take the eggs to Asian countries. On October 24, Brazil's Federal Revenue service intercepted a Chinese couple on a bus to Rio de Janeiro at Foz do Iguaçu carrying 34 eggs, some hidden in an improvised incubator and in a jacket lining; the couple said they had been hired for 3,000 reais to deliver the "cargo" to Galeão Airport in Rio. Twenty-five chicks later hatched from that batch and are being cared for at the Bela Vista Biological Refuge.
A report released on November 3 by the nonprofit Freeland Brasil said shark fins, live ornamental fish and bird eggs are among the most trafficked wildlife products in Brazil. Paraná state is running a multi-agency operation, Cerca Viva, against wildlife trafficking in the tri-border area with Argentina and Paraguay. China News Service's overseas Chinese outlet reported that Chinese diplomatic missions in Brazil have issued a reminder urging Chinese citizens to comply with Brazilian wildlife protection laws and not to carry or transport protected species or their products across borders.
(Source: Ibama)
Source: Ibama
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：圣保罗 Guarulhos 国际机场（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport (file photo), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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