Customs officers intercept shipment of 1,200 animals destined to become exotic pets - or someone's dinner

Customs officers have confiscated two endangered animals and more than 1,000 others in the largest seizure of its kind.

The rare leopard cat and a spotted linsang - a fox-like animal found mainly in China and classified as highly endangered - were among more than 1,200 live animals found in a river trade vessel transporting 28 cages of smuggled cargo on Saturday.

The two animals, which could fetch thousands of dollars each on the underground market, plus the rest of the cargo, were to be kept as pets by collectors, Customs said.

Officers also seized 896 rodents, 232 hedgehogs, 46 box turtles and two rabbits. They were believed to have come from the mainland and were worth around $134,200 in total.

Customs officers intercepted the shipment on Saturday morning when three male suspects were moving the animals from the vessel to a van in Tuen Mun Public Cargo Working Area.

Two mainlanders, aged 37 and 43, were arrested and charged with violations of Customs, rabies and endangered species ordinances. Another suspect, a 35-year-old Hong Kong man, was granted $3,000 bail pending further investigations.

'The number of rodents and hedgehogs seized this time is the largest in the records of the Customs and Excise Department,' said cargo research Divisional Commander Raymond Tsui Wong-bun. 'Normally in the past, we intercepted people who brought in one or two hedgehogs or rabbits for raising.'