Man jailed for smuggling rare parrot eggs

A man caught with hundreds of protected parrot eggs from Nicaragua has been given 100 days in jail for smuggling.

The man and his wife were en route to Hong Kong in March when customs officials checked their hand baggage. Inspectors found 257 parrot eggs divided between two sports bags, wrapped in paper and T-shirts, along with equipment to keep them warm.

The couple claimed they thought the eggs were chicken eggs to be used in Asian cooking.

The eggs were seized by the national food safety authority NVWA. The organisation was able to hatch 232 of the eggs. Among the chicks were yellow-naped Amazon parrots, of which only 2,500 are left in the wild.

The woman will be tried at a later date.