![\"Green-cheeked](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/198.jpg\")
Operation Thunder is an annual exercise tackling the illegal wildlife trade. Photograph: DEFRA<\/p>\nMore than 250 endangered species and illegal wildlife products were seized at the UK border in a single month, new figures have revealed, including spiders, snakes and birds.<\/p>\n
The illicit cargo was uncovered as part of an annual crackdown on wildlife smuggling known as Operation Thunder, which is led by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation.<\/p>\n
Two rainbow boa constrictors were discovered hidden under blankets in a car by Border Force officers, and were apparently bought by the driver at a German reptile show without a licence.<\/p>\n
More than 2,000 live tarantulas were found in a separate vehicle. They were estimated to be worth about \u00a370,000, and included 300 protected species.<\/p>\n
Between 13 September and 15 October, during searches at airports, ports and mail depots nationwide, the Border Force also discovered a car transporting more than 100 endangered birds, including green-cheeked conures and lovebirds. They had been kept in appalling conditions, and some had died.<\/p>\n
Operation Thunder is an annual exercise tackling the illegal wildlife trade. Photograph: DEFRA<\/p>\n
\u201cIn recent years we have seen an increase of smuggled birds, reptiles, invertebrates and flora,\u201d said Danny Hewitt, director for UK command operations.<\/p>\n
King cobra balm, a tiger claw bottle, ivory carvings and shark meat were among the products seized.<\/p>\n
Home Office minister Mike Tapp said wildlife smuggling<\/a> is serious organised crime that \u201cfuels corruption, drives species to extinction, and undermines our border security\u201d \u2013 with this year\u2019s operation cutting off a major source of funding for dangerous gangs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe won\u2019t stop until we\u2019ve broken this business model,\u201d he warned. \u201cAnyone attempting to bring illegal wildlife products into the UK \u2013 by air, sea, or post \u2013 will be searched and prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n Wildlife crime<\/a> is the fourth-largest illegal activity worldwide \u2013 behind firearms, drugs and human trafficking \u2013 and is thought to be worth up to \u00a317bn a year globally, with experts noting efforts to tackle it are increasingly intelligence-led.<\/p>\n The Home Office<\/a> said that, where possible, seized items will be rehomed or used for research. Dame E J Milner-Gulland, a professor at the University of Oxford, congratulated the Border Force and said the illegal wildlife trade is a major threat to species.<\/p>\n \u201cIt can range from individuals bringing in items that they\u2019ve bought at tourist markets, unaware that permits are needed, to large-scale organised crime,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Milner-Gulland said sharing intelligence to intercept and pre-emptively tackle wildlife crime is essential, and requires collaboration between international governments, NGOs, the public and academics.<\/p>\n She explained \u201cexciting new approaches\u201d including AI-based prediction tools are in development, but added: \u201cWe also need to remember that illegal wildlife trade relies on people wanting to buy these products from the traffickers, and people taking them from the wild in the first place \u2013 this requires understanding and changing the motivations that people have to engage in this trade.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Jenny Maher from the University of South Wales said the Border Force\u2019s seizures are highly encouraging, and are a stark reminder of the immense suffering endured by countless animals.<\/p>\n But the associate professor in green criminology noted concerns have been raised over prosecutions and punishments for illegal wildlife trade offences.<\/p>\n \u201cVery few wildlife smuggling offences result in a conviction and even less in incarceration, despite the widespread harms and profits involved,\u201d Maher said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother point to consider is these seizures were the result of a targeted operation, raising the question of how many offences go undetected when such resources and focused attention are not applied to tackling the illegal wildlife trade.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 250 endangered species and illegal wildlife products were seized at the UK border in a single…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-178602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}