Police officers seized twelve wild owls from a passenger bus on a routine inspection at a toll booth on National Highway 324 on Monday in Yunnan Province.

Police officers in Yunnan seized owls from a passenger bus at a toll gate on National Highway 324 on April 14.

The police in Luoping County found a suspicious package on a bus traveling from Kunming to Xingyi City in Guizhou Province, local newspaper Sheng Huo Xin Bao reported.

The owls, one of which was dead, are under second-grade state protection. They were found packed inside two bags and a paper box with their beaks and feet bound with tape.

The bus driver said he had no idea about the contents of the packages, only that they were delivered by a middle-aged man at Nanyao Bus Station in Kunming. The man asked the driver to send the packages to Xingyi City and told him there were some chickens inside.

The smuggling case has been forwarded to the Luoping's public security bureau for further investigation.

(CRI April 18, 2008)