Video: Five exotic mongooses rescued from smuggler at Chennai airport

Chennai Customs officers have rescued five exotic animals smuggled from Bangkok in the check-in baggage of a passenger.

The Customs Department has shared a video of the five animals comprising common dwarf mongoose and common spotted cuscus mongoose concealed in bags.

“On 23rd October, Chennai Customs officers seized five Dwarf and Common spotted Cuscus concealed inside check-in baggage from a passenger who arrived from Bangkok, Thailand. All the Cuscus were deported to Thailand. The passenger was arrested,” the Chennai Customs tweeted.

The mongoose is considered a friend of man as it can kill and eat poisonous snakes. The common dwarf mongoose is a species native to Angola, northern Namibia, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Zambia and East Africa. It has soft fur ranging from yellowish red to very dark brown, a long tail and big claws.

The common spotted cuscus, also known as the white cuscus, is a cuscus that lives in the Cape York region of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby smaller islands. It is about the size of a common house cat. Its eyes are slit much like a snake’s.

The smuggling of exotic animals seems to be on the rise as last week, too, more than 600 exotic species were rescued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Customs department at the Mumbai airport.

The smuggled animals were concealed in an imported consignment of live fish, including rare lizards, pythons and iguanas. More than 100 animals were found dead and several were in critical condition as they had been transported in containers used for fish.