CONTENTS OF AN UNADDRESSED CRATE THAT ARRIVED AT THE BEIRUT AIRPORT LEAVES THE AUTHORITIES ASTONISHED

 

There is nothing that is dreaded more than seeing baggage lying down at a public place and there is no one to claim the baggage. There are thousands of warnings issued about not touching things like these, but some people don’t take them seriously.

When a crate was found at an airport which was unaddressed and nothing was known about the person to whom it belonged to, everyone panicked. But a person who does not panic in a situation like this might end up with a solution or even end up with a destructive solution.

Warnings

There are various warnings about not touching any unidentified items whose whereabouts are unknown to you. But what if we come across some unidentified objects that needed to be addressed? What would happen if your addressing of an unidentified object helped a poor soul?

An Unidentified Box

An incident that involved an unidentified and unmarked crate was going to take place and that too in a place that is packed with security. An unmarked crate somehow got on the airport in Ukraine and was supposed to arrive in Syria.

Alarmed

The crate that was addressed to Syria but fate had some entirely different plans for the crate. It ended up in Beirut. No one had any idea as to how that crate got stuck in Beirut. When the officials and the employees got to know about it they were all alarmed.

What’s In It?

As soon as the employees got to know about the unmarked crate the first thing that popped up in their mind was to call the authorities and tell them all about. But they were nowhere close to even guess what was inside that crate and were going to receive the surprise of their lives.

Beirut International Airport

It was a usual morning at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport when the officials were informed about an unmarked crate that was to reach Syria but ended up at the airport that did not have a sender list along with it.

What’s Next?

At this point, everybody at the airport was confused about what to next. Everybody was scared about what might be inside the box and then they decided that the will have to call the authorities and that would be a reasonable course of action.\

Not The First Time!

But this was not the first time that some unidentified and unmarked box has been found at a public place. Incidents like these often happen at places like airports, bus stops, and subway and the best solution in this kind of situation is to inform the authorities.

Solution

And the solution of calling the authorities is what crossed the minds of the employees and they called the authorities to find what was lying in that crate. The thought that was constantly causing tension to the employees was what if it contained something harmful?

Danger?

The inquisitive nature of humans is one of the biggest problems in cases like these. When incidents like these happen, people tend to forget that the crate might be dangerous and want to know what are the contents of the crate.

Seven Days

This was the first time that something like this was happening and no one had noticed it for seven days. There have been many cases about authorities finding unaddressed packages and the thing that was worrying everybody was that in most of the cases the contents turn out to be dangerous!

Authorities Assemble!

As soon as the authorities reached the scene they had the entire place cleared and started to find out what was inside that box. Everyone was scared about what that box might hold inside, but no one would even be able to make a wild guess as to what that box contained.

Investigation

The authorities started their investigation and they were too worried about the fact that there might be the slightest possibility that the crate could hold something in it that might turn out to be a nightmare of the people present there.

Search Operation

The authorities started their search operation with due diligence and were worried about the safety of the people near the premises. The authorities were scared as to what that box might contain and what might be the results.

How Did It Reach Here?

After a considerable amount of time, when the authorities were not able to figure out what that crate had, they started searching for the way that crate had reached there. And they thought of searching for the sender or the place it was destined to arrive.

Gut-Feeling

 

One of the employees at the airport suspected that there might be a living thing inside the crate but none of the officials believed him. But deep down he thought that he was right and wanted to open and check the crate.

Tick! Tick! Tick!

With every passing moment, things were becoming more and more confusing than they already were. The authorities were stuck in an endless loop. They could not open the crate because of the safety reasons and could not find about its origin or destination.

What’s That Smell?

The crate that was lying there was emitting a pungent smell and this made the employee’s gut feeling even stronger. Now the problem that he faced was that he was not able to get anywhere near the crate but he had to find out what was inside that crate.

Inquisitive Nature

There have been multiple numbers of cases in which a person’s inquisitive nature and their negligence towards the security of people have turned out to be dangerous. Is it going to turn out similarly or is it going to be a different case?

Diversion

When the employee was not allowed by the authority to access the crate he thought that he would have to create a diversion to get near that crate and find what was inside that box. Then a plan struck in his mind that would help him to find what was inside that crate.

A Plan!

The employee now had devised a plan and all that was left now was the execution. The employee told the authorities that footage from the video cameras might have captured something that could help them in finding what was inside that crate.

Footage

As soon as the authorities went to watch the footage of the cameras, the employee had a very small window to find out what was inside that box. Now it is all up to you whether you would call it courage or foolhardiness that he went to examine the box without a backup.

Frightened

The employee was scared like anything but he had a very small window to find out what was inside that box. He thought that opening the crate would be too big of risk so he thought of peeping inside the crate through the holes on the crate. Little did that guy know that he was to receive the surprise of his life.

Three Siberian Cubs!

As soon as the guy peered inside the box through the hole, he was left surprised. He was left jaw dropped and at once turned to his colleague. The sight of what was inside scared him to his soul. The crate had three Siberian tiger cub inside the crate.

Inform The Authorities

At once, the guy called the authorities and told them about the horrifying scene he had seen inside that crate. The cubs were in a pathetic condition and they were so weak that they could not even make a noise.

Filthy Conditions

The condition they were in meant that they were inside the box for all those days the crate was traveling. The condition in which the cubs were kept was a terrible sight to look at. The cubs had been crammed inside that crate.

Crammed Inside

The crate’s height was somewhere around 42cm and the cubs were almost 60 cm tall which meant that the cubs were forcefully made to enter the crate and the cubs weren’t even able to stand inside the crate.

Major Problems

The problem of not being able to stand was one of the smaller ones. The bigger problems comprised of the fact that the whole crate was covered in their feces. The crate had no food or water for the cubs. It was a real question that how did the cubs survive in such situations.

Starving

The scene inside the crate made several things clear and one of them was that the cubs had not eaten or drunk anything in a long time. The cubs were in a starving and dehydrated and were in a pathetic condition and the maggots that filled the crate was an example of the same.

Animals Lebanon

As soon as the authorities discovered that the crate contained three Siberian tiger cubs, they at once informed the animal welfare organization that goes by the name Animals Lebanon. The people at Animals Lebanon were shocked to find out what the authorities and the employees had found out.

Lana el-Khalil

Lana el-Khalil who is the president of the Animals Lebanon gathered a team of her own and rushed for the airport and find out more that was going on and happening at the scene. Lana reached the place where the whole scene had taken place.

Infectious Surroundings

Upon various other findings, the fact that they were kept closed in the cage for seven days came into light. “It is completely unacceptable that these animals have been trapped for seven days in a cage which is soaked in feces and urine, too small for them to stand, and infested with maggots,” said Lana el-Khalil.

A Happy Ending?

Now when Lana and the Animals Lebanon had the cubs with them, everyone thought that this would be a happy ending but everyone was unaware of how the next incidents were to take place and be a total turnaround.  

Finding The Culprit

Animals Lebanon was the organization that took the cubs with them to take care of them and find out how did they reach there and who was behind keeping the cubs in such unhealthy and the conditions in which their survival was a tough task.

Shipper Or Receiver?

The crate was unaddressed and nothing was written on the crate that would help the officials at Animals Lebanon to find out anything about the shipper or the receiver. Lana and her team started to make efforts to stop the shipment to reach its destination.

Stopping The Shipment

Finally, Lana el-Khalil informed everybody that they were able to stop the shipment. Lana said that it all came possible because of the “combined efforts of the ministry of agriculture, customs, and a judge.” And then they stumbled across the truth about the cubs.

Customs

The customs allowed the transportation of exotic and wild animals and this was the reason that the cubs could be shipped. The cubs were being sent from the Mykolaiv Zoo in Ukraine to the Samer al-Husainawi Zoo in Damascus, Syria.

Stuck In Beirut

Fate had entirely different plans for the cubs when they were being shipped. They were meant to reach Samer al-Husainawi Zoo in Damascus, Syria but ended up being stuck in Beirut and this was what helped the cubs in being discovered and being saved.

Permission Granted

Animals Lebanon was granted permission to open the crate. At once the people at Animals Lebanon took the cubs out of the crate and took them to the vet. The Executive Director at Animal Lebanon, Jason Mier was stunned to see the condition in which the cubs were.

Poor Cubs

Jason said that the cubs were kept in a pathetic condition. He said that the cubs were filled with maggots. Their paws were in the worst possible condition. The paws had turned red because they were standing in their urine for a long time.

 Safe Now!

But the cubs were safe with Animals Lebanon now and a few months later Animals Lebanon came up with terrific news. The veterinarian when examined the cubs he came across a shocking revelation and informed the officials immediately. 

The Vet

The vet, while examining the cubs and vaccinating them, found out that one of the cubs had been microchipped. According to the documents, each one of them should have been microchipped but he couldn’t verify that.

Microchipped

When the officials got to know about the fact that only one of them had been microchipped they became alert. This revelation could only mean one thing: that someone had bought them illegally and this proved out to be true.

The Owner

The problem that the authorities were facing was that the owner wanted the cubs back. “This was the most clear-cut case of straightforward trafficking but the most difficult to do anything about,” said Mier. He added that the owner threatened the employees and as a result, the employees had to take the help of the police while retrieving the cubs.

Won The Case!

The NGO won the cubs in a case against the owner of the cubs as the terms and conditions of the trade of Endangered Species were not fulfilled. “The Ministry of Agriculture, Judge of Urgent Matters and Customs have all made the right decisions,” said Animal Lebanon’s social media account.

Improvement In Health

Whilst the legal battle of the ownership was being fought, the cubs started getting healthy day by day. They started feeling less terrified of humans and started playing with them as normal cubs would. The trio was named May, Antoun, and Tanya.

A Time Leap

Four months later, Animal Lebanon won the case for ownership and by this time the cubs were big and in perfect health. Animal Lebanon had to find a new and real home for the, and therefore the authorities had to allow the NGO to move the tigers.

The Trio

The trio traveled in a passenger plane as a special cargo and slept in their separate boxes that had their name tags and tiger stripes. They arrived at Tonga Terre D’accueil sanctuary near Lyon in a few hours and that is when Jason could sleep properly.

Final Destination

“I could sleep after the plane got off the ground — that’s the end of it. Now, they can finally enjoy their lives,” Jason said in an interview. The people at Animal Lebanon were really happy that the cubs could now finally live their lives.

A Revisit

A few years later Jason and his colleagues visited the trio and they recognized them at once. They started chuffing and licking the team and the three cubs who were now full-grown tigers looked happy and good.

Awareness

It is not the first time that cases of animal trafficking have come into the light. It’s our duty that if we ever find any case like this than we should immediately inform the Animal Welfare Organizations and help them in any possible way.