5 October 2023
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say they seized giraffe droppings at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport from an Iowa woman who explained she planned to use them to make a necklace.
The woman flew into the airport from Kenya on Sept. 29 and offered up to customs officers that she had giraffe feces, which were then found in a small box.
“The passenger declared giraffe feces and stated she had obtained the droppings in Kenya and planned to make a necklace,” the agency said in a Thursday statement.
The woman also told customs agriculture agents that she had made a necklace out of moose feces at her home in Iowa.
Importing animal feces to the U.S. is only allowed with a USDA Veterinary Services permit, which is meant to prevent diseases.
“There is a real danger with bringing fecal matter into the U.S.,” LaFonda Sutton-Burke, director of operation for CBP’s Chicago field office, said in the statement. “If this person had entered the U.S. and had not declared these items, there is high possibility a person could have contracted a disease from this jewelry and developed serious health issues.”
Kenya is affected with African swine fever, classical swine fever, Newcastle disease, foot and mouth disease and swine vesicular disease, the agency said.
The woman was released without any criminal penalties because she did not know the regulations on what is allowed to be brought into the U.S., said Steven Bansbach, the agency’s public affairs specialist for the Chicago field office.
It marked the first time that MSP Airport has dealt with a passenger traveling with animal fecal matter, Bansbach said.
“The common thing that we find is bushmeat,” he said, referring to raw or minimally processed meat from wild animals such as cane rats and monkeys, as well as bats. “People try to commingle it with fish.”
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