University of Bristol student finds live scorpion in her Shein parcel

A specialist reptile welfare team attended the accommodation to retrieve the insect

2 months ago | UPDATED 1 month ago

A Bristol University student found a live scorpion in her clothes parcel after it arrived at her student accommodation last week.

18-year-old Sofia Alonso-Mossinger noticed the insect crawling in the Shein package and initially thought it was a toy, before it moved.

Sofia and her flatmates secured the insect before calling the National Centre for Reptile Welfare (NCRW), who collected it.

@sofiaalonss

#shein give me my money back stop airing me🙏😭

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Describing the incident, Sofia told the BBC: “I thought it was a toy – and then it moved.”

She described the situation as “being pretty scary”, but that her flatmates, also students at the University of Bristol, were able to help.

Sofia, an electrical and electronic engineering student, said: “I unzipped the outer packaging and saw something move and was like, what’s this?”

After noticing the surprising imposter, she rezipped the bag, which contained a pair of boots, and got it out of her room, calling her flatmates for help.

she continued to describe the experience: “I thought I was dreaming,” she said, “I feel like I am all right with spiders and things but it was scary being in my room with a random scorpion.”

The insect was moved from her package into a tub by Oliver James, a zoology student, who was brave enough to transfer the scorpion into a plastic container with kitchen tongs.

He said: “It was a bit nerve-wracking,” he said, as no one knew how venomous it was.

One of her flatmates, Phoebe Hunt, also 18, heard Sofia’s screams and found her with “a live scorpion in a bag on her boots.”

Phoebe added that they were “not exactly buzzing to have a scorpion in the flat.

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“At first, I’ll be honest, I said we should kill it and then everyone pointed out that wasn’t the most humane thing so we scooped it up and put it in a Tupperware.”

On a video Sofia shared to TikTok, she joked “Halloween costume = cancelled” upon finding the scorpion within her clothing.

The video has racked up 1.1 million likes since it was posted three days ago (Friday 11th October), with the caption: “Shein give me my money back stop airing me.”

One of her flatmates, Phoebe Hunt, also 18, heard Sofia’s screams and found her with “a live scorpion in a bag on her boots.”

Phoebe added that they were “not exactly buzzing to have a scorpion in the flat.

“At first, I’ll be honest, I said we should kill it and then everyone pointed out that wasn’t the most humane thing so we scooped it up and put it in a Tupperware.”

The venomous guest was given water, whilst the students called animal groups to resolve the situation.

They contacted the National Centre for Reptile Welfare (NCRW), who were able to send someone over within a couple of hours. NCRW’s Chris Newman said reports of such stowaways were surprisingly frequent.

“The scorpion is Olivierus Martensii, it doesn’t really have a common name other than Chinese scorpion,” he said.

He said its sting would be “medically significant… potentially life-threatening but an average adult would just have a really bad day.

“It is quite worrying this is the second one we have had in under a month that has come in this way.”

Shein, a China-based brand said it had conducted an internal investigation and had confirmed that “all standard operating processes have been adhered to.”

Shein has said they are in touch with Sofia to resolve the issue.

In a statement, Shein said: “After receiving the feedback, we immediately conducted an internal investigation.

“Our teams on the ground have checked the shipment packing process and carried out an inspection of the goods in our warehouse and have confirmed that all standard operating processes have been adhered to.”

Shein has been approached for a comment.