Jun 10, Kathmandu - Indian customs officials have made a "significant" seizure of endangered wildlife from a passenger arriving from Thailand, a government statement said. The seized wildlife included nearly 100 animals, including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums.

Customs officials say a passenger carrying two tarantulas and a turtle “showed signs of panic” upon arriving in India’s financial capital, Mumbai.

The seizure comes after a passenger was stopped from smuggling dozens of venomous vipers, also from Thailand, earlier this month.

The wildlife seized included iguanas, as well as kinkajou or honey bears – small raccoon-like animals from the rainforests of Mexico – as well as a gliding possum found in Australia, and six ‘sugar gliders’.

Photos released by the customs unit show six sugar gliders sitting together in a basket and a box full of lizards.

“In a significant operation, customs officials... intercepted an Indian national... leading to the seizure of several live and dead wildlife species, some of which are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act,” the finance ministry said in a statement on Monday night.

Wildlife trade monitor Traffic, which combats the smuggling of wild animals and plants, warned on Tuesday of a “very worrying” trend in smuggling driven by the exotic pet trade.

Over 7,000 live and dead animals have been seized on the Thailand-India air route in the last three and a half years.

Customs officials at Mumbai airport are more accustomed to seizing smuggled gold, cash or marijuana, but recently there has been a steady increase in wildlife seizures.

Customs officials seized dozens of snakes and several turtles from an Indian national who had flown in from Thailand in early June.

Among them were several spider-tailed horned vipers. The spider-tailed horned viper is a venomous species that was only described by scientists in 2006 and is classified as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

TRAFFIC’s analysis showed that more than 80 percent of interceptions occurred in India, although most cases involved animals smuggled from Thailand.

“The almost weekly detection and diversity of wildlife en route to India is very concerning,” said TRAFFIC’s Southeast Asia director Kanitha Krishnasamy. “Many of those caught were alive, which shows that the hunger for exotic pets is driving the trade.”

In February, customs officials at Mumbai airport intercepted a smuggler carrying five siamang gibbons, a small monkey found in the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Customs officials said the tiny creatures, listed as endangered by the IUCN, were “cleverly concealed” in plastic crates placed inside the passenger’s trolley bag. In November, authorities found a passenger carrying a live cargo of 12 turtles.