Woman receives dead reptiles in courier mix-up

An East China woman expecting a package of health supplements was surprised when she instead received a box containing a very, very unhealthy iguana and crocodile.

The case draws attention to the lax restrictions on mail-order animals.

The woman surnamed Zhang of Suichang, Zhejiang Province said she was opening one of the foam boxes when she immediately smelled something strange, media reported.

Photos show the two dead reptiles curled in a foam box. The meter-long crocodile appears to be wearing a black leather collar.

Also undoubtedly contributing to the odor was a piece of raw meat for the animals to eat.

The couple immediately called police.

Officers found a tag looped through the crocodile’s tail that identified it as a Siamese crocodile, a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List.

However, police said that while also protected in China, the crocodile had been bred and therefore legal to sell.

A police officer surnamed Chen contacted the sender in Liaoning Province, a 2,000-kilometer distance from Zhejiang, who apologized for what amounted to an address label mix-up.

“The crocodile was alive when it was sent but died in Suichang because of the long journey,” Chen said, adding the dead reptiles have been disposed of.