Fifty live baby crocodiles are seized at London Heathrow Airport

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.

One crocodile has died since the discovery on April 27 and the remaining animals are being cared for before being re-homed 

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

‘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.

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