A white alligator freed from the luggage of a traveler at Munich Airport now lives in a zoo in North Rhine-Westphalia. As the rescue center for reptiles in Munich announced, the animal moved to the TerraZoo in Rheinberg in mid-January. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in Bonn took over the mediation. Little Ophelia has already settled in well in her enclosure.
Customs found the albino alligator in September while x-raying suitcases in a passenger’s luggage – completely wrapped in cling film. The alligator, which was about one meter long at the time, could hardly breathe and was handed over to the reptile sanctuary in very poor health, where animal keepers nursed the reptile back to health.
A businessman is said to have taken the animal in his luggage. The investigators demanded a high five-digit security payment from him in the fall. According to customs, up to 75,000 euros are paid for such albino alligators in Asia.
