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Mass bird smuggling attempt thwarted in W. Nusa Tenggara
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A protected 'elang bondol,' or brahminy kite, inside a cage in the office of the West Nusa Tenggara Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (JP/Panca Nugraha)
P
ersonnel from the West Nusa Tenggara Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and the West Lombok Police have foiled an attempt to smuggle hundreds of wild and protected birds from the province to Bali and Java.
The joint team detained a truck carrying 1,711 passerine birds, some of which were endangered and protected, at Lembar Port in West Lombok on Tuesday, official spokesman Ivan Juhandara said.
“We stopped the truck as it was attempting to cross to Bali via Lembar Port. When we checked, it [the truck] was not equipped with proper permits and documents,” he said on Wednesday.
Based on the agency’s data, the birds comprised seven species, and were mostly chirping birds. They included 1,200 streaked weavers, 250 local yellow kecials, 15 black-napped orioles, 30 yellow-vented bulbuls, 15 black drongos, 200 brown honeyeaters, known locally as kecial kombo, and one brahminy kite, known locally as elang bondol.
“Of the seven species, two, the kecial kombo and elang bondol, are protected,” he said adding that BKSDA would later release the birds at Gunung Tunak Nature Park in Central Lombok.
The birds were put into cardboard boxes with holes for air.
The truck driver and a driver’s assistant were taken to the police station for questioning. If found guilty of smuggling protected animals, they could face charges under the 1990 Law on natural resources and ecosystem conservation with a maximum five-year prison sentence and Rp 100 million in fines.
Ivan said it was the second bird smuggling attempt foiled this year. The agency previously detained a truck carrying 2,000 birds to Bali and Java. (rin)
