Man busted smuggling menagerie into Poland
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Polish border guards said they had foiled an attempt to smuggle kangaroos, miniature ponies and 11 pheasants in a passenger bus across Poland's border with Ukraine.
"It was a regular bus with 30 or so passengers aboard," Poland's national border guard spokesman Andrzej Wojcik said.
"Everything seemed to be fine until we opened the baggage hold," he added.
"You can imagine the surprise of the border guards when they found two small kangaroos, five ponies and and 11 pheasants locked up in cages," he said.
"Both the kangaroos and ponies are miniatures, measuring 50 to 60 centimetres.
"One of the ponies is probably pregnant," he added.
The Ukrainian bus driver had insisted he did not realise he was doing anything illegal, Mr Wojcik said.
He told the border guards the animals had been delivered to him by a stranger in Warsaw and were to be handed over to someone at the final destination in Lviv, Ukraine.
The animals were examined by veterinarians and fed by border guards.
"They are in good health and will be put in good hands," Mr Wojcik said.
- AFP
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