Fifty live crocodiles seized at Heathrow Airport, London

Photo credit: Home Office

Fifty live crocodiles have been seized at Heathrow Airport in London after someone attempted to smuggle them into the country.

The reptiles, all only one-year-old, were found been packed into five small boxes during a routine check on shipments which had just arrived on a flight from Malaysia.

The crocs, each 30cm long, had started to fight with each other due to a lack of space, the BBC reports, and were immediately confiscated upon discovery under animal welfare regulations.

Photo credit: Home Office

The animals were intended for a farm in Cambridgeshire which grows crocodiles for their meat.

One crocodile died on the flight.

The others are now under the care of officials from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and will be rehomed.

Newshub.

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