'Anti-ageing benefits': Woman caught trying to sneak in giant salamanders

A woman has been caught trying to slip two live giant salamanders through security checks at a train station in China.

The Chinese salamander, described as a living fossil, is one of the world’s oldest animal species dating back more than 170 million years.

When confronted, the woman passenger said the pair of the giant salamanders were artificially bred and she was bringing them home to cook, according to a report.

Local police said the amphibious beasts are a protected animal species in China and authority had strict control over them, even if they were raised on a farm.

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The giant salamander is listed as ‘critically endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

The giant salamanders were sealed in two styrofoam boxes when the unnamed passenger stuck them into a baggage X-ray machine on Monday at the West High-speed Railway Station of Zhangjiajie, a city in southern China’s Hunan Province. She was stopped after officers saw the creatures on their screen.

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It is believed by some Chinese people that giant salamanders have anti-ageing benefits, although there is no scientific evidence to support this.

But the woman claimed that she wanted to eat them to help her recover from surgery.