This is the bear skin and head found by customs officials in a box labelled ‘teddy bear’ and sent as a birthday gift to a two-year-old girl who loved furry teddy bears.
The bizarre package was intercepted in Wolfsburg in the state of Lower Saxony before it could reach the reportedly teddy-bear-mad 2-year-old girl on a box -sent from Canada – which also included the words ‘Happy Birthday, we love you!’
The package, which had been sent from Canada to Germany, contained the real skin and head of a black bear (Ursus americanus) but was marked as containing a “teddy bear”.
The sender had reportedly wanted to surprise the little girl, a friend of the family in Germany, for her birthday as they had heard she was such a fan of bears, according to the father of the child who the package was destined for.
The couple had labelled the package as containing a teddy bear and a blanket but the sender now faces potential legal repercussions.
Andreas Loehde from Braunschweig customs said: “A classic teddy bear would have made everyone happy, including the now deceased black bear.”
The black bear skin and head was confiscated by Wolfsburg customs officials and will not be given to the youngster as the correct documentation and labeling was not included with the item.
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Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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