TRAGEDY OF 300 SONGBIRDS DUMPED IN WATER BY FLEEING SMUGGLERS

Authorities sort through the crates of drowned songbirds

SMUGGLERS have dumped 300 birds into the sea off Malaysia  while attempting to escape authorities.

All but three  of the birds drowned. They are believed to have been trapped  in various South-east Asian countries with the intention of subsequently selling them  in Indonesia.

Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency officers intercepted a boat carrying three Indonesians in waters just off the coastline of Peninsular Malaysia. 

In a statement, the MMEA said it believed the birds were smuggled over land from Vietnam to Thailand, thence into Malaysia, which served as a transit point before the birds were to be smuggled into Indonesia.

Authorities are working to identify the dead birds, most of which are thought to have been songbirds.

The MMEA has previously stopped bird smugglers moving their contraband both to and from Indonesia.

In April 2016, its officers found 100 oriental magpie-robins on a boat which was also ferrying illegal immigrants from Indonesia. 

The previous year, it intercepted an Indonesian boat with 150 oriental magpie-robins headed for Malaysia, and, in 2013, it stopped an Indonesian national attempting to smuggle 10 cockatoos into Malaysia.                                                       

Male oriental magpie-robin

While the latest incident confirms the persistent illegal capture and smuggling of wild birds for trade in the region, it also raises questions about the source of birds to Indonesia where birdkeeping is a very popular hobby. There has long been  a huge amount of trafficking between the nation’s many islands. 

“Collaboration between countries is crucial to end this trade, or, across Asia, we will be left with silent forests,” says Kanitha Krishnasamy, acting regional director for the charity, Traffic (Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network).

Earlier this  year, authorities at the Lembar Port in West Lombok stopped a truck loaded with over 1,700 birds destined for Bali.                   

Brahminy kite

Among the birds were a Brahminy kite, a protected species, and 1,000-plus streaked weavers. 

The birds were packed in plastic crates and cardboard boxes and found on a lorry during a routine vehicle inspection at Lembar Port. Many were dead or in poor condition when found.

Male streaked weaver

Excessive trapping for the caged bird trade has been identified as one of the major threats facing songbirds in South-east Asia.

 Huge open markets selling millions of birds each year can be found throughout the region, but are particularly prominent in Indonesia, where keeping of illegally trapped wild birds is  widespread practice.

* Traffic's UK office is in Cambridge. Its website address is http://www.traffic.org/

PHOTO CREDITS

Male oriental magpie-robin: Shantanu Kuveskar (via Wikimedia Commons) 
Brahminy kike (known as red-backed sea eagle in Australia: Jim Bendon/ snowman radio (via Wikimedia Commons)
Streaked weaver: Pkspks (via Wikimedia Commons)
Top photo: Courtesy MMEA

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