Credit: Zoo d'Amnéville

On Wednesday 6 August 2025, Amnéville Zoo, located over the border in the Grand Est region of France, announced the recent arrival of a critically endangered Home's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys homeana), following a seizure by French customs at Paris (Roissy) Charles de Gaulle Airport.

In mid-July 2025, customs officers at Charles de Gaulle Airport discovered a live tortoise hidden among clothing in a suitcase arriving from the Ivory Coast. The animal had been illegally removed from its natural environment.

Customs officers quickly contacted the seized wild animal assistance service of the French Association of Zoos (AFdPZ) to find a suitable new home for the tortoise. Amnéville Zoo, currently the only French zoological park to house this endangered species, agreed to take in the animal. The transfer was completed just days later, on Sunday 20 July 2025, when the young tortoise was relocated to the zoo's facilities in the Moselle department.

A tropical species classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Home's hinge-back tortoise requires specific humidity and temperature conditions, which the zoo said were not respected during the illegal transfer by aeroplane. As a result, the young tortoise is currently in "a worrying state" of health and is being closely monitored by the zoo's veterinary team.

Due to the lack of precise information about its region of origin and its current state of vulnerability, the zoo said that releasing the animal back into the wild is not a viable option at this time.

Amnéville Zoo noted that its teams collaborate daily with state agencies - including customs, gendarmerie (police), the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) and firefighters - who work against the illegal trafficking of wild animals. The zoo provides them with expertise and assistance in the care of seized animals.

"We sincerely thank these government agencies for their responsiveness and commitment to this fight, which is particularly close to our hearts," said Thomas Grangeat, Deputy Zoological Director, who had personally travelled to the airport to take charge of the animal.

Each year, Amnéville Zoo provides refuge to more than 20 protected wild animals who are rescued from similar circumstances.