The East Java office of the Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) on Wednesday confiscated 56 exotic birds from five species originating from Suriname and the Netherlands in a foiled attempt to smuggle them into the country.

BKSDA head Sumarto said the birds were thought to have been brought into the country illegally by an importer and were destined for a recreational park in Batu city.

The birds comprise six blue and yellow macaw-ara ararauna, 16 scarlet macaw-ara macau, 10 red and green macaw-ara chloroptera, 20 black headed parrot-pionites melanocephala and four yellow crowned amazon-amazona ochrocephala.

The birds were seized along with the employees of importing firm PT Bunga Wangsa Sejati at the cargo area of the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya on Tuesday. The birds had just arrived on a Mandala Airlines plane from Jakarta after enduring a three-day flight from Suriname.

Sumarto said the blue and yellow macaw was included on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and was entirely banned for trade, especially for export to other countries. It is believed to be on the verge of extinction in its country of origin, Trinidad and Tobago.

"The other bird species have been categorized in Appendix II, which can be traded up to a certain quota," he said.

He added the consignment had not been equipped with legal documents. The importer is believed to have failed to arrange the required import permits, which are issued by the Indonesian Forestry Ministry.

"They are only equipped with export permits from Suriname and quarantine documents from Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta," Sumarto said.

The BKSDA is currently working with authorities in Suriname to ascertain whether the birds were permitted to leave the country,

"According to an employee of the importer, his company had arranged for an import permit from the Forestry Ministry, but it had not yet been issued. We regard it as a violation of the regulation, and so we have taken the necessary steps by confiscating them," Sumarto told The Jakarta Post.

The BKSDA is currently investigating the case and gathering statements from witnesses.

"If we find out that they have been imported illegally, we will return them to their country of origin," Sumarto said.

The BKSDA is still considering whether to shelter the birds temporarily at the Petungsewu Wildlife Refuge Center or at the Safari Park II in Prigen -- both located on higher plains with a cooler climate -- because they are not acclimatized to the humidity at the BKSDA quarantine center.

Last month, the BKSDA also foiled a bird smuggling attempt from Congo and South Africa to Indonesia.

ProFauna International chairman Rosek Nursahid said the smuggling attempts showed lax supervision by wildlife authorities and groups in Indonesia.

"Recreational parks are believed to import rare animals to add to their animal collections by any means, which is evident from the case allegedly involving Jatim Park in Batu," Rosek said.

He added that the value of the smuggled birds was quite significant -- with the price of a blue and yellow macaw ranging between Rp 10 million (US$1,100) and Rp 25 million.

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