PHILADELPHIA (WLNS) – Agents in Philadelphia recently encountered a taxidermied endangered species that was heading to Atlanta.

The stuffed Red Siskin Finch arrived from the Netherlands in late August. This type of finch is under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species which are species most in danger of extinction.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists worked with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to identify the finch.

Commercial trade in CITES Appendix 1 species collected in the wild are strictly prohibited except in some instances for conservation purposes or for scientific research.

The shipment did not have a required USFWS import certificate or a CITES permit and was turned over to USFWS inspectors.

During a typical day last year, border patrol agriculture specialists across the nation seized 4,552 prohibited plant, meat, animal byproduct, and soil, and intercepted 319 insect pests at U.S. ports of entry.