Customs and excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport saved 72 scaly anteaters from being illegally exported among a consignment of live crabs to a seafood and fruit supplier in Hong Kong.

Office chief Oza Olivia said on Friday that the anteaters, which have large keratin scales covering their skin and are locally known as trenggiling, were in Styrofoam boxes and about to be loaded onto a Chinese cargo plane on Thursday.

Officers checked the boxes and discovered the protected mammals that were being kept in separate bags along with around 1.3 tons of crabs. “We will work together with the Jakarta Natural Resources Conservation Center [BKSDA] to further investigate the case,” she said, adding that the mammals would be handed over to the conservation center.

BKSDA head of conservation, Trustiadi, said that the scaly anteater was on the list of protect...