At an airport in Turin, Italy, border police found the dried head of a crocodile in a passenger's luggage. Police say it was wrapped in brown paper to hide it from security checks. The man had flown in from Miami through Istanbul and is now under investigation. Crocodiles are protected under international law, and the report describes this one as critically endangered. This was one seizure, but it points to a much bigger problem. Italy is a major transit hub for the illegal wildlife trade, and much of it is tied to organized crime.
Sign the petition urging Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security to fund stronger enforcement against wildlife trafficking and to require clear warnings for travelers about souvenirs from protected species.
Local advocates say tortoises, ornamental birds, tropical reptiles, and even small primates are traded illegally through online channels and cross-border exchanges. Last year, a chimpanzee held illegally in Sicily was seized.
Not everyone carrying these items is a trafficker. Dried animal parts are sometimes bought as souvenirs by tourists who do not know that bringing them home is illegal. That is why Italy needs to act on two fronts at once. It needs to fund the investigators who track trafficking networks, including those who sell animals online. And it needs to make sure travelers know, before they board a flight, that souvenirs made from protected animals can be seized and can lead to prosecution.
A crocodile's head in a suitcase is a souvenir to one traveler and a warning about a trade that treats living animals as products.
Sign the petition and demand Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security crack down on wildlife trafficking and warn travelers before more animals are lost.
