Britain urges end to trade in banned wildlifeIn one case, a traveller was stopped when he tried to bring a stuffed Nile crocodile through the "nothing to declare" channel at London's Heathrow airport, the environmental group World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) said. On another occasion, staff at one of the capital's other main airports, Gatwick, were alerted when a group of Russian seamen tried to barter tortoises in return for cigarettes at a duty-free shop.
"The seamen realised they were heading for trouble, then began abandoning their animals around the terminal building," WWF said in a statement.
"In total, 22 tortoises were recovered, as well as five chameleons which were found amongst some potted plants."
Customs figures showed that 52,000 illegal wildlife items were confiscated in the year to the end of June, unchanged from the previous 12 months. Included in the latest figure were more than 1,500 live animals.
With 15 million Britons expected to travel abroad this year, Environment Minister Michael Meacher urged tourists not to buy souvenirs made from endangered species.
"If in doubt, don't buy," he said, launching a new campaign called "Souvenir Alert".
Stuart Chapman of WWF said: "Tourists could be placing some of our most beautiful and unusual wildlife on the road to extinction, all for the sake of an exotic gift."