Someone tried to send a wolf skull with a raven on it from Kyiv to the United States

They tried to send stuffed cockatoos and arachnids to the United States from Kyiv, as well as a raven that was attached to a wolf’s skull.

These animals are subject to international environmental conventions. This is stated on the Facebook page of Kyiv Customs.

The results of the examination, conducted by experts from the National Museum of Natural History, showed that the samples were identified as:

• a stuffed raven (Corvus corax), a nomadic, sedentary and breeding bird of Ukraine.
• the stuffed parrots are the green ara (Ara militaris), which can be found in Colombia, Bolivia and Mexico, and the white cockatoo (Cacatua alba), which lives on the islands of Indonesia.
• A skull with a raven on it is a wolf (Canis lupus) species found throughout Ukraine.

The stuffed birds and the skull were seized by customs officers. They are establishing the circumstances of the incident, as the documents required for transportation were not provided.

Wildlife protection and the CITES Convention

The raven is protected by international institutions. In particular, the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats protects the bird.

The ara and the cockatoo wolf also need protection, as their populations are declining. They are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Such parrot species are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), among other things.

The CITES Convention provides, inter alia, that permits must be obtained for the appropriate export of any plant or animal, whether dead or alive, and any part or derivative thereof that is easily recognisable. The relevant documentation is provided by the administrative authorities of Ukraine on the issue of compliance with the requirements of the Convention.