Indonesia: Smuggling of hundreds of parrots foiled at Soekarno-Hatta airport

Aman Rochman The Jakarta Post 21 May 18;

Authorities at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, have thwarted an attempt to smuggle 353 parrots to Medan, North Sumatra.

The parrots of different species were allegedly brought to the airport on Saturday by HA, a bird trader from Malang in East Java, who traveled on a Sriwijaya Air flight from Abdulrachman Saleh Airport, Malang.

The head of the East Java chapter of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA), Nandang Prihadi, said on Sunday that the illegal delivery of the 353 parrots was uncovered when the Sriwijaya Air aircraft was in transit at Soekarno-Hatta on its way to Medan.

“Information we received stated there was an illegal delivery of birds to Jakarta via a Sriwijaya Air flight. We tried to prevent the smuggling attempt by calling Abdulrachman Saleh Airport authorities. Unfortunately, the aircraft had already taken off,” said Nandang.

He then coordinated with officials from the BKSDA Jakarta, Sriwijaya Air and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport aviation security authorities to confiscate the parrots. They include red lory ( 78 ), dusky lory ( 30 ), rainbow lorikeet ( 173 ) and blue-streaked lory ( 30 ). One red lory was found dead.

“The four types of parrots were caught in their natural habitats in Maluku, Papua and Papua New Guinea. The suspect only had a quarantine letter but not a wildlife transportation permit,” said Nandang.

He noted that, even though the parrots confiscated by the BKSDA officials were not protected species, they had been taken from the wildlife or their natural habitats. “The suspect violated [Environment and] Forestry Ministry Decree No. 447/2003 on wildlife hunting and distribution,” said Nandang.

He said all of the parrots were temporarily kept at the Tegal Alur Rescue Center in West Jakarta for a rehabilitation process before they would be released to their natural habitats. (ebf)