BERLIN, Germany — Austrian authorities say they have stopped a man at Vienna airport as he tried to smuggle 74 protected chameleons from Africa into the country.
They said in a statement a 56-year-old man, who was not further identified, had hidden the animals in socks and empty ice-cream boxes when he was caught at customs control in Vienna.
He had traveled to Austria from Tanzania via Ethiopia. The chameleons were taken to the Austrian capital’s Schoenbrunn Zoo, which said that three of the animals did not survive.
All the animals were from the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania and ranged in age from 1 week old to adult animals.
Officials say the chameleons would sell for about 37,000 euros or $44,970 on the black market, BBC reported.
"[Chameleons] can camouflage themselves well... but they ultimately did not outsmart the X-Ray machine," the ministry said in a statement provided to BBC.