Labels on the jars said they contained one species, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service identified them as Hirudo medicinalis, a species of leech used in medical bloodletting, the CBP said.
“Most species of leeches are not in danger of extinction. Only one species, the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis, has been given legal protection,” says BioKIDS, a science education program co-sponsored by the University of Michigan. “This species was found throughout Europe and western Asia, but has been so heavily collected for medical use and research that it is extinct in many parts of its range.”
CBP officers often seize unusual items “like this jar full of icky bloodsuckers,” said Joseph Martella, CBP’s Area Port Director in Philadelphia.
In January, they found a taxidermied bird being shipped from the United Kingdom to Quebec.
Last year’s seizures included crocodile skins from Sierra Leone and ivory from poached tusks of protected pachyderms (elephants, rhinos or hippos), the CBP release said.
