Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) Aviation Police officers yesterday intercepted a package containing a 1m-long ball python.
Songshan Aviation Police Bureau officials said the package was found at 6:50am when officers were using the X-ray machine to inspect packages to be delivered by Uni Air Flight B7-601 to Magong Airport in Penghu County.
The officers later opened the delivery box and found the live ball python, which weighs about 2kg.
Photo: Chiang Hsiang, Taipei Times
The bureau said that the package was sent by a college student surnamed Yang (楊).
However, Yang made no mention of the live animal prior to shipping, indicating only that the item inside the box was a “fragile gift,” it added.
The bureau said that Yang was surprised to receive a call from police officials, adding that he thought it was no big deal to have his pet shipped via air.
As Yang was already in Magong when officers found the package, he was asked to come and claim the snake when he returns to Taiwan proper, the bureau said.
Even though live snakes are not on the list of items deemed threatening to flight safety, the bureau said that the Uni Air flight manual has banned the delivery of such animals.
Additionally, the item declared by the passenger did not match the item found inside the box, the bureau added.
Beyond notifying the passenger, the bureau said that it asked the Council of Agriculture to identify the species of the snake.
Many air carriers reject requests to deliver certain pets, including mice, lizards, crickets, snakes, monkeys, parrots, eagles and chameleons, the bureau said, adding that the owners of these pets could consider shipping them via sea transport services if airlines reject delivery requests.
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