An illegal shipment of 50 live crocodiles has been seized by border officers at Heathrow Airport.

The year-old juvenile saltwater crocodiles were found in five boxes by staff in a live shipment from Malaysia, UK Border Force said.

They were destined for a farm in Cambridgeshire, where they were to be bred for their meat, the Press Association reported.

The animals, weighing around 40kgs, had not been packed in accordance with International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations, invalidating their permit and making the importation illegal.

Each box only had room for four crocodiles but 10, foot-long reptiles had been packed into each one. </s> An illegal shipment of 50 crocodiles has been seized by border officers at Heathrow Airport.

The year-old juvenile saltwater crocodiles were found in five boxes by staff in a live shipment from Malaysia, UK Border Force said.

They were destined for a farm in Cambridgeshire, where they were to be bred for their meat.

“The crocodiles had started to fight each other during the flight as space was limited, so little attention had been paid to their welfare.

“We will seize anything that contravenes CITES regulations, so this should serve as a warning to those thinking about transporting wildlife in such conditions.”

One crocodile has died since the discovery on April 27 and the remaining animals are being cared for before being re-homed. </s> BRITISH OFFICIALS HAVE seized an illegal shipment of 50 live crocodiles at Heathrow Airport.

The year-old juvenile saltwater crocodiles were found crammed into five boxes coming from Malaysia.

The were bound for a farm in Cambridgeshire where they were to be bred for their meat.

The animals had not been packed in accordance with international regulations, making the importation illegal.

Each box only had room for four crocodiles but 10 had been packed into each one.

“It is just not acceptable for reptiles to be transported in this way,” said Grant Miller, head of the national Border Force Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) at Heathrow.

“We will seize anything that contravenes CITES regulations, so this should serve as a warning to those thinking about transporting wildlife in such conditions.”

The crocodiles were found on 27 April. One has since died and the others are being cared for before being rehomed. </s> British officials seized an illegal shipment of 50 live crocodiles at London's Heathrow Airport, the UK Border Force said. The year-old juvenile saltwater crocodiles were found crammed into five boxes coming from Malaysia. They were bound for a farm in Cambridgeshire, eastern England, where they were to be bred for their meat. The animals had not been packed in accordance with international regulations, making the importation illegal. Each box had room for only four crocodiles but 10 had been packed into each one. "It is just not acceptable for reptiles to be transported in this way," said Mr Grant Miller, head of the national Border Force Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) at Heathrow. The crocodiles were found on April 27. One has since died and the others are being cared for before being rehomed. </s> LONDON (AFP) - British officials have seized an illegal shipment of 50 live crocodiles at London's Heathrow Airport, the UK Border Force said on Friday (May 4).

The year-old juvenile saltwater crocodiles were found crammed into five boxes coming from Malaysia.

The were bound for a farm in Cambridgeshire, eastern England, where they were to be bred for their meat.

The animals had not been packed in accordance with international regulations, making the importation illegal.

Each box only had room for four crocodiles but 10 had been packed into each one.

"It is just not acceptable for reptiles to be transported in this way," said Grant Miller, head of the national Border Force Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) at Heathrow.

"The crocodiles had started to fight each other during the flight as space was limited, so little attention had been paid to their welfare.

"We will seize anything that contravenes CITES regulations, so this should serve as a warning to those thinking about transporting wildlife in such conditions."

The crocodiles were found on April 27.

One has since died and the others are being cared for before being rehomed. </s> An illegal shipment of 50 live crocodiles has been seized at London Heathrow Airport.

The year-old juvenile saltwater crocodiles were found in five boxes by staff in a shipment from Malaysia, UK Border Force said.

They were bound for a farm in Cambridgeshire, where they were to be bred for their meat.

The animals, weighing around 40kgs, had not been packed in accordance with International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations, invalidating their permit and making the importation illegal.

Each box only had room for four crocodiles but ten reptiles had been packed into each one.

The foot-long animals had started to fight each other during the flight because of the limited space.

'It is just not acceptable for reptiles to be transported in this way,' said Grant Miller, head of the national Border Force Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) at Heathrow.

'The crocodiles had started to fight each other during the flight as space was limited, so little attention had been paid to their welfare.

'We will seize anything that contravenes CITES regulations, so this should serve as a warning to those thinking about transporting wildlife in such conditions.'

One crocodile has died since the discovery on April 27 and the remaining animals are being cared for before being re-homed. </s> An illegal shipment of 50 live crocodiles has been seized by border officials at Heathrow Airport.

The one-year-old saltwater reptiles, each measuring around a foot long, were stuffed in five boxes that arrived from Malaysia.

The individual cases only had room for four crocodiles, but 10 of the animals were packed into each one.

It meant the reptiles fought with each other because of the cramped conditions during the flight.

City of London Corporation staff were making welfare checks on the shipment when they made the discovery on 27 April.

The animals were destined for a Cambridgeshire farm where they were going to be bred for their meat.

One crocodile has died and the remaining animals are being cared for before being rehomed.

The crocodiles had not been packed in accordance with international regulations, meaning a permit attached to the delivery was invalid and the shipment was illegal.

Grant Miller, head of Britain's CITES team (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), said: "It is just not acceptable for reptiles to be transported in this way.

"The crocodiles had started to fight each other during the flight as space was limited, so little attention had been paid to their welfare.

"We will seize anything that contravenes CITES regulations, so this should serve as a warning to those thinking about transporting wildlife in such conditions." </s> Image copyright Home Office Image caption The crocodiles were intended for a farm in Cambridgeshire, where they were to be bred for meat

Fifty crocodiles have been seized at Heathrow airport after their transport conditions breached regulations.

The year-old reptiles, which arrived on a flight from Malaysia, had fought each other during the journey due to their cramped circumstances.

Each of the five transportation boxes used had room for four crocodiles - but 10 foot-long animals were in each one.

A Border Force spokesman said "little attention" had been paid to the crocodiles' welfare.

One crocodile has since died.

The animals had been destined for a farm in Cambridgeshire - where they were to be bred for meat - but are now being cared for by officials from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The remaining 49 crocodiles will be re-homed, a Home Office statement said.

Image copyright Home Office Image caption Fifty crocodiles were transported from Malaysia but one has since died

Grant Miller, head of the national Border Force CITES team at Heathrow, said: "It is just not acceptable for reptiles to be transported in this way."

He added: "We will seize anything that contravenes CITES regulations, so this should serve as a warning to those thinking about transporting wildlife in such conditions." </s> COLOMBO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - A young British journalist was dragged into a river and killed by a crocodile while holidaying in Sri Lanka, the country's navy said on Friday.

Paul McClean, 24, who worked in London for the Financial Times, had been on a surfing holiday in the popular eastern coastal area of Arugambay when the incident occurred on Thursday, the navy said. His body was found on Friday.

"The navy was able to recover the body of a foreigner who had been snatched by a crocodile on September 14," the Sri Lankan navy said in a statement.

The BBC quoted an eyewitness as saying local people had heard him screaming for help as he was pulled into the river.

"By the time they went to the spot where the croc attacked, they couldn't save him because already the crocodile had pulled him inside the water so they couldn't see what was going on," it quoted Fawas Lafeer, the owner of a surf school, as saying.

McClean, an Oxford University graduate with a first-class degree in French, joined the FT as a graduate trainee two years ago and worked most recently for the fastFT news service.

The FT's managing editor James Lamont described McClean as "a talented, energetic and dedicated young journalist" who had had "a great career ahead of him" at the newspaper.

"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and loved ones," Lamont said. (Reporting by Costas Pitas and Guy Faulconbridge in London and Ranga Sirilal in Colombo; Editing by Gareth Jones)
Fifty juvenile crocodiles are seized at Heathrow Airport, London, after officials discover that they were being kept in inhumane conditions.