Dutch police intercept Zimbabwe ivory cargo

Dutch police intercept Zimbabwe ivory cargo

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By Staff Reporter

DUTCH customs police have seized a shipment of elephant body parts from Zimbabwe, including 22 feet, eight tusks, eight ears, three tails, a skull and an entire hide, officials said Wednesday.

The cargo, originating in Zimbabwe and bound for Germany, was halted at Schiphol airport in October without proper licenses. The find was announced this week following an investigation and will be permanently confiscated, spokeswoman Anita Douven said.

African elephants are an endangered species and can only be shipped with special licenses, but activists noted that illegal trade in animal parts is a huge industry.

"This is unusual - that there would be such a large find - but trade in ivory is sadly not at all rare," Rosa Hill of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said.

The parts may have been intended for a collector who planned to use them as part of an exhibit, she said. Elephant feet also Ds used to make footstools as a "gruesome collectible" and elephant skin purses are sold at open air markets in London and other cities, she said.

The parts were intended for buyers in Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic, police said. No arrests have been made, though German authorities are still investigating.

"It's pretty disgusting," Douven said. "We hope the publicity will discourage people from doing this. At least the dealers have lost their money."

She said the parts would likely be destroyed - AP
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