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Confiscated crocodile feet
Photo: Main Customs Office Dortmund / ots
According to a report, customs in North Rhine-Westphalia discovered and confiscated four animal parts prepared on wooden sticks in a postal package from the USA.
The "extraordinary 'scratch sticks'" made from the feet of a Mississippi alligator were addressed to a 48-year-old man as a "gift shipment".
According to the announcement on Monday, customs in Gelsenkirchen came across the preparations at the end of November.
No authorization
Mississippi alligators are strictly protected.
If you want to import goods into the EU that consist of the animal, you need a permit.
Since this was not available, customs confiscated the find.
The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation should now decide whether the goods should be used as a deterrent for illustrative and training purposes or whether they should be destroyed.
jpz/AFP