Man arrested in Peru with 20 live birds in suitcase

Among the wild birds were two toucanets and 16 tanagers

A man has been arrested for trying to smuggle 20 live birds to Europe (Peru Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation)

A man has been arrested in Peru after trying to smuggle 20 live birds in his suitcase.

Belgian Hugo Conings was arrested at Jorge Chavez airport in Lima with the birds, of various Peruvian species.

He was trying to smuggle them to Madrid, according to Peru’s National Forest and Wildlife Service (Serfor).

Mr Conings had gone through security and was about to board the plane – without arousing suspicion, says the agency – when authorities realised he had wild birds inside his cabin baggage.

Among the “sensitive and delicate” birds were two toucanets and 16 tanagers, brightly coloured birds that are endemic to the jungle of Peru and Bolivia.

One of the seized birds, a Sira tanager, is classed as almost threatened, according to the wildlife agency.

Mr Conings could face up to five years in jail for illegal wildlife trafficking.

The birds have been given to a local zoo for care.

Illegal wildlife trafficking is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss in Peru, says Serfor.

It follows the story of a man caught attempting to smuggle around 200 live scorpions out of Sri Lanka.

The Chinese national had packed the venomous arachnids into plastic boxes, but was stopped by customs officials at Bandaranaike International Airport near the capital of Colombo before he boarded his Sri Lankan Airlines flight to Guangzhou.

Authorities suggested the man may have been planning to extract the scorpions’ venom to sell in China.