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Island focus: Plot to smuggle birds of paradise foiled
A plot to smuggle four birds of paradise, which are an endangered species, was foiled in Medan, North Sumatra, on Friday
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plot to smuggle four birds of paradise, which are an endangered species, was foiled in Medan, North Sumatra, on Friday.
Authorities at Kualanamu International Airport discovered the birds had been shipped via a cargo service from Surabaya, East Java, to Medan without proper documentation.
“It is illegal since no proper documentation was found,” Hafni Zahra, the head of Kualanamu’s animal and plant quarantine center, said on Friday. The case is the fourth attempt to smuggle birds of paradise through Kualanamu. The four birds have been placed under the care of the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) while the police carry out an investigation.
A circular has been issued in Papua banning the sale of stuffed birds of paradise and the use of their feathers for souvenirs and accessories.
The preserved birds can only be used during a sacred Papuan procession in which bird parts are adorned on the head of an indigenous group leader.
