TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After a passenger reported a mouse running around the cabin, inspectors also found a bag containing 28 live Indian star tortoises and two otters on a flight from Bangkok to Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday (Oct. 4).
Agents from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA) boarded the Thai Vietjet Air plane after it landed in Taiwan, the Liberty Times reported. After a search lasting more than one hour, they caught the alleged mouse, which turned out to be a groundhog.
During the chase, they also found a bag with two pup otters, a cardboard box containing 28 tortoises, and two animals they were unable to identify. There were no identification marks allowing the inspectors to track down the owner, but passengers pointed out a woman who they said had carried the bag on board.
She denied having anything to do with the animals, but inspectors kept her at the airport for questioning, the report said. If the woman, surnamed Chen (陳), is confirmed as having brought the animals with her, she could face a fine ranging from NT$50,000 (US$1,548) to NT$1 million.
With the exception of the tortoises, the other animals will be sent to he National Pingtung University of Science and Technology to determine whether they are covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).