The UK Border Agency has recovered over a tonne of live rock coral at Manchester Airport in air freight which is though to have originated in Indonesia. The animals are protected under the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species (CITES). The imported was found to be a Manchester based trader and further investigation showed that they had been wrongly described and did not have the appropriate CITES documentation.

As the rock coral is alive there was an urgent need to transport the animals to a suitable environment. A specialist aquarium, Blue Planet in Cheshire Oaks, took delivery of the coral. The UK Border Agency has announced that all the animals survived and will be on display to visitors at the aquarium shortly.  Further enquiries are being made with the Indonesian authorities.