Kenya holds Ugandan tortoises

Aug 10, 2006

THE Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is holding 228 Uganda tortoises intercepted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), The Standard newspaper reported on Thursday.

By Reuben Olita in Nairobi
THE Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is holding 228 Uganda tortoises intercepted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), The Standard newspaper reported on Thursday.
The leopard tortoises (geochelone pardalis) were being exported as shells from Uganda to Thailand. However, Uganda’s agriculture, and animal industry ministry had cleared them as live.
Suspicious customs officials and Kenya Airways personnel alerted KWS when they saw droppings from the packages.
The ministry had certified 250 tortoises for export. According to travel documents, the “shells” packed in 17 metallic boxes, were cleared for export on July 13 at Entebbe Airport and were intercepted at JKIA on August 6.
Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});