Three Germans have been arrested at Schiphol Airport for smuggling 79 eggs. These are suspected to have been laid by, among others, puffins, a protected bird species. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) reports that most of the eggs were almost hatched.
The NVWA took action after customs found the eggs in the suspects’ hand luggage. A incubator was found in the trio’s hold luggage, the supervisor reports.
The hatching eggs have been taken to a specialized reception center. There they will be further hatched. After hatching, it will become clear exactly which species they are.
The trio had taken the eggs from Iceland. That is one of the breeding grounds for puffins. At Schiphol they only wanted to transfer to a flight back to Germany, but their illegal cargo was discovered.
Smuggling bird eggs is prohibited, just like smuggling birds. Yet it happens often. There is a lot of money to be made. This type of trade is “a danger to biodiversity and often involves animal suffering,” says the NVWA.
