Since 2009, customs officers working at Vienna Airport have been able to find 818 protected animals and plants that were supposed to be smuggled into Austria in passengers' luggage. From parrot eggs to reptiles and seahorses there was pretty much everything that falls under the Species Trade Act.

Among the most inglorious highlights are 74 parrot eggs, which were found packed in cookie boxes and a coconut by 2011 travelers from Jamaica in 2. The parrot eggs were brought to the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna and hatched there. More than 50 parrots have hatched from it.

In 2012, potency pills were found in a passenger from Cairo that contained the sexual organs of partially species-protected animals, such as seahorses, snakes, tigers or monkeys. Also in 2012, a total of 50 live turtles, individually wrapped in socks, were picked up in the suitcase of a passenger from Hong Kong. The severely dehydrated animals were cared for in the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna. "Not only does customs have a long-standing cooperation with the zoo in the training of species protection dogs, Schönbrunn is also often a reception station for the confiscated animals," said Finance Minister Blümel, thanking him for the good cooperation for the welfare of the animals.

In 2013 a total of 60 birds, some of them packed in cardboard rolls, were found on a traveler from Bali. 21 of the birds were classified as protected species. At the time of arrival, 37 birds were already dead and an examination revealed the avian flu virus. In 2017, 359 live cacti were found in two passengers, which had been taken from the wild in Argentina and Bolivia.

“The important work of customs regularly contributes to ending animal suffering and protecting rare species. In this way, customs not only ensure the protection of domestic companies and consumers, but also make an indispensable contribution to the preservation of flora and fauna. Looking back on the seizures made by customs in the field of species protection over the past 12 years reads like a journey from exotic to curious to tasteless, ”said Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP).