By DPA
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysian customs officers seized 76 live leopard tortoises found in two parcels that had been labelled as clay pots and sent via post from Tanzania, reports said Tuesday.
A post office staff became curious when he saw the parcels moving while conducting checks at the courier centre of an airport terminal.
Officers opened the boxes and discovered 76 live leopard tortoises strapped down on their shells and heads, said assistant director of the wildlife department Haidar Khan.
He said the department, which was now caring for the tortoises, had contacted the Tanzanian government to find out on how to repatriate the animals.
"Each of them costs between 100 ringgit ($29.5) and 700 ringgit ($205.8) in local pet shops, depending on their size. Some can even go as high as 1,000 ringgit ($295).
"They are worth a lot because their shells are beautiful," Haidar was quoted as saying by the Star daily, referring to the star-shaped patterns on the shells.
He said that after the seizure, two of the 76 tortoises died due to stress.
Haidar said if the tortoises could not be sent back to Tanzania for whatever reasons, the department would keep them for educational or observation purposes.