Scorpion surprise: Bristol student's shoe order turns creepy

Sofia Alonso-Mossinger is a student at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. On 11 October, a TikTok video circulated on social media, showing a very unusual "freebie" she received in a package from the Chinese fast fashion store Shein. Initially, she thought she had accidentally been sent a figurine or toy, but the "object" started moving.

It turned out that the package contained a live scorpion. Upon realising what she was dealing with, the 18-year-old Alonso-Mossinger took the bag containing the shoes out of her room and started calling her housemates. In a statement to bbc.com, she recalled: "I thought I was dreaming. I feel like I am all right with spiders and things but it was scary being in my room with a random scorpion."

The scream was heard by her 18-year-old housemate, Phoebe Hunt. She confessed to bbc.com: "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." Oliver James, another housemate who studies zoology, transferred the scorpion to a box using kitchen tongs. He admitted it was quite scary because no one knew how venomous the arachnid was.

The housemates gave the scorpion water on a paper towel, which it immediately drank, and also provided a sheet of paper under which it could hide before contacting animal organisations. Since there is no unit dedicated to venomous arachnids in England, the students reached out to the National Centre for Reptile Welfare (NCRW). The organisation sent a representative to collect the visitor from China within two hours.

Chris Newman from NCRW informed bbc.com that the animal was identified as a golden scorpion (Olivierus martensii). Newman stated that a sting from this species might be "medically significant," but for the average adult, it would at most result in a "bad day." He was more concerned by the fact that this was already the second scorpion that, to his knowledge, had arrived in England this way in the past month.

Shein issued statements regarding the dangerous package: "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." Potential unexpected scorpions thus join ethical concerns as arguments against buying from Shein.