Dutch authorities have intercepted 261 suspected wild parrot eggs at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport – with a chick hatching from one of them.
The illegal cargo was found in the hand luggage of a couple flying from Central America to Asia, according to the Netherlands food and product safety watchdog.
Customs officers made the unusual find on 24 March.
The eggs were individually wrapped in paper and bundled in T-shirts.
A chirping chick was emerging from one of them, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) said.
The chick was too young for its species to be identified, the watchdog said.
The Royal Military Police detained the two travellers, whose identities have not been disclosed.
All parrot species are protected under the CITES convention, a global treaty regulating the endangered animal trade – meaning strict rules apply to the possession and trade of the birds and their eggs.
The couple lacked documents showing their legal ownership of the eggs, the NVWA said.
The seized eggs and newly hatched chick have been transferred to a specialised care facility for incubation and ongoing care.
In November, a man was charged with smuggling after Customs and Border Protection officers at the US-Mexico border noticed a suspicious bulge in his pants — only to learn he had two parakeets hidden in his underwear.
The birds, an endangered species native to Mexico, were found on 23 October, “apparently unconscious but breathing and heavily sedated” inside two brown sacks, prosecutors said.
Just months earlier, in July, more than 1,600 parrots and canaries were seized at Lagos international airport in Nigeria.
The live cargo, including ring-necked parakeets and yellow-fronted canaries, was being illegally transported to Kuwait.
Parrots, songbirds, and birds of prey are among the most trafficked birds globally for the exotic pet trade, private collections, or for their feathers, according to the United Nations 2024 World Wildlife Report.
The non-profit World Animal Protection International estimates that in some areas, wild African grey parrot populations have declined by as much as 99 per cent due to trafficking.