Indonesian authorities announced on Sunday that they have seized more than 1,200 birds illegally transported and belonging to a species threatened with extinction.
“The alleged perpetrator, who has not yet been found, transported flavaecent zosterops in eight cages. The number of birds is 1,260, 140 of which were found dead, “said Joko Waluyo, civil servant at the provincial conservation agency.
The flavy zosterops, a small yellow and green bird with eye -circled eyes, is classified as a species in danger by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and as a species protected by the Indonesian Ministry of the Environment and Forests.
The authorities discovered animals on Friday in a port on the island of Florès. They were to be transported by ferry to Surabaya, a city in the east of the Indonesian island of Java.
The surviving flavant zosterops have been reintroduced into the wild. “Release them aims to save all (birds) found, to increase their population in the wild, and to raise awareness of the general public,” said Joko Waluyo.
In Indonesia, poaching or trade in protected species is liable to a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
The illegal trade in wild species and the loss of habitat in the archipelago led many endangered species to the edge of the extinction, from the Sumatra elephant to orangutan.