Heathrow displays shocking range of illegal animal goods

A border force officer moves a taxidermy brown bear that was seized at Heathrow Airport. EU authorities made 952 seizures of illegal wildlife medicines in 2016, up from 174 in 2011. Many of the medicines originate in Africa, and a significant portion are destined for markets in Asia

An officer holds a package containing bear bile seized by UK Border Force at Heathrow. More than 10,000 bears are kept on bile farms in China, and official figures put the number suffering the same fate in Vietnam at about 1,200. The bears have their bile – which is stored in the gall bladder – extracted on a regular basis, and it is used in traditional medicine and household products

Crocodile taxidermy seized by UK Border Force officers sits on display at Custom House near Heathrow. Endangered species are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Countries all over the world have signed up to the agreement imposing special responsibilities on anyone importing any of the hundreds of plant and animal species listed in the convention

These shocking pictures taken at Heathrow highlight that trade in illegal wildlife products is thriving. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is designed to stop the illegal killing of these species by destroying the market. It applies to anything from that species, such as skin, fur and teeth

Seized: Ivory carvings and animal skins are among the items on display at Custom House. Under British and EU law, you must apply to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a permit before importing anything on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) list

Officers also seized this taxidermy of endangered species, including wild cats and a bird of prey. When something is imported, it must also have a permit proving it was sourced legally by the country of export. Without these documents, items can be confiscated by customs officials – but you have the right to appeal. There is also other international legislation applying to the trade of endangered species. Some can impose fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars and carry jail terms

An officer holds a container of ‘Craze’, a body building supplement. Scientists have found that it contains a methamphetamine-like compound. Craze contains the substance N,alpha-diethylphenylethylamine or N,a-DEPEA. Dr Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School said the drug is a methamphetamine analog, or a ‘cousin’ to meth

The medicines, which also include Red Ant, a popular remedy from China that contains seahorse as a key ingredient, purport to treat everything from erectile dysfunction to cancer

Dried seahorses in a jar are shown to the camera by a Border Force official. Eleven seahorse species are considered vulnerable or endangered and all are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the body that regulates the commercial wildlife trade

An officer shows off pangolin scales seized by security officers. Eight species of pangolins are found on two continents, according to the WWF. They range from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered. While at least 20 tonnes of pangolins and their parts are seized annually after being trafficked across borders, smugglers are using dozens of new routes for the illegal trade every year in a determined effort to stay ahead of authorities. The scale-covered, ant-eating mammal is prized as an edible delicacy and ingredient in traditional medicine, especially in China and Vietnam as well as across Africa

An officer holds a horn from a critically endangered saiga antelope. Populations of saiga have dropped from more than one million to around 40,000 over the past decade, the WWF says. Male saiga horns  are highly prized in Chinese medicine as the key ingredient in ‘cooling drinks’ – said to bring down high fever temperatures. Selling at more that £20 a gram on Far East backstreet markets, poachers have been targeting saiga in huge numbers

An officer holds a bottle of cobra tonic. In the evidence lock-up near Britain’s Heathrow Airport, home to a menagerie of confiscated wildlife contraband, UK Border Force investigator Jan Sowa is pictured here picking up a tonic bottle from Asia, containing an entire snake. ‘Most frequently we see these as tourist souvenirs, rather than serious medicinal aids,’ Sowa said of the snake bottle, noting its English labelling

Many of the medicines originate in Africa, and a significant portion are destined for markets in Asia. The illicit and often cruel trade can have a devastating impact on the survival of endangered species and the United Nations estimates the global market for illegal wildlife medicines is valued at $3.4 billion

An officer shows off a jar of Hoodia, used as an appetite suppressant. The sale of Hoodia is banned in the UK, because too many manufacturers of the cactus-based product made unsubstantiated claims about its benefits. Hoodia is a plant extract used by tribesmen in South Africa to help them survive without food while hunting in the desert

Monkey skulls are displayed in the lock-up, some of which have been made into jewellery. Many of the primate specimens originate from west or central Africa, taken from the wild – some of which are critically endangered species

These ivory carvings didn’t make it past the airport’s officials. The WWF says: ‘Poachers kill about 20,000 elephants every single year for their tusks, which are then traded illegally in the international market to eventually end up as ivory trinkets’

A officer holds a package containing crushed tiger bones. EU authorities made 952 seizures of illegal wildlife medicines in 2016, up from 174 in 2011. Many of the medicines originate in Africa, and a significant portion are destined for markets in Asia