It said the illicit cargo, concealed beneath piles of used car batteries and boxes of food, also included assorted antlers, pelts of fur-bearing animals and dried sea cucumbers.

Poaching is rampant in many parts of Russia, particularly in poorer Siberian and far eastern regions.

Twelve years after the collapse of Soviet rule, widespread poverty often overshadows ecological and environmental concerns, a low priority in public opinion and in government policy.