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Souvenirs of slaughter slammed

Products made from endangered wildlife are being seized at the rate of more than 100 a week from travellers to Australia.

Commonly-seized items include souvenirs made from coral, animal skins, drums with reptile skins, traditional medicines made from wildlife, turtle products and insects in glass cases (for example, butterflies).

Once seized the items are destroyed, or retained for educational purposes, under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Customs Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, recently saw a sample of seized wildlife products in Melbourne. Among the gruesome exhibits were a rhino's foot, hollowed out and fitted with an ice bucket, and a monkey skull fitted to a necklace.

Senator Vanstone described the seized products as souvenirs of slaughter and warned that Australia would not tolerate a trade that threatened the survival of numerous endangered species.

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