Tanzania is ready to pay for the repatriation of 76 rare tortoises that were smuggled to Malaysia two months ago.

"We are waiting for Malaysian officials to tell us the cost of re-shipment of the tortoises," Natural resources and tourism ministry spokesman Dominic Kamamba told AFP .

Malaysia customs officials on June 12 discovered the leopard tortoises strapped and cramped in two boxes labelled as clay pots and sent by air mail from the east African nation.

Late June, Malaysian wildlife authorities informed Tanzania that two tortoises had died while the rest were held at a rescue centre.

The leopard tortoise is protected under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

According to CITES rules the country of origin of confiscated species had the obligation to pay repatriation costs, Kamamba said.