A box of giraffe poo has been seized by customs agents at a US airport after a woman tried to bring the faeces into the country to make a necklace.
The woman had declared the small box of poo when she was selected to have her belongings inspected upon arriving at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport in Minnesota on 29 September, US Customs and Border Protection has said.
She told officials she picked up the poo on a trip to Kenya and brought it back in her luggage to make a necklace.
The woman, from Iowa, said she had previously made a necklace with moose faeces.
Giraffe poo can be brought into the US with the proper permits and inspections, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
The station reported that the woman will not face sanctions because she declared the faeces and gave it to customs officials.
The agency’s agriculture specialists destroyed the giraffe poo.
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LaFonda D Sutton-Burke, a field director at US Customs and Border Protection, said: “There is a real danger with bringing faecal matter into the US.
“If this person had entered the US and had not declared these items, there is high possibility a person could have contracted a disease from this jewellery and developed serious health issues.”
African swine fever, classical swine fever, Newcastle disease, foot-and-mouth disease and swine vesicular disease are among ailments in Kenya that customs officials have cited as risks.
