As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday 7 May 2015

Bottled birds: How callous smugglers cram cockatoos into plastic bottles to get them through customs


More than 24 endangered Yellow-crested cockatoos were rescued by police
Smugglers stuffed them in bottles to get through customs in Indonesia
Critically endangered cockatoos can be sold for as much as £650 each
Around 40 per cent of birds die during the illegal smuggling process


PUBLISHED: 19:50, 4 May 2015 | UPDATED: 11:31, 5 May 2015

More than 24 critically endangered cockatoos were rescued by police after being found stuffed in water bottles for illegal trade. 

Smugglers crammed the Yellow-crested cockatoos into empty bottles so they could get through customs at Port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, Indonesia.

But Indonesian Police discovered the birds, which can be sold for as much as £650 each, and cut them free so they could receive medical attention.

The Yellow-crested cockatoo was listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 2007.

More than 24 critically endangered cockatoos were rescued by police after being found stuffed in water bottles for illegal trade
Smugglers had crammed the Yellow-crested cockatoos into empty bottles so they could get through customs at Port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, Indonesia

The population is at a critical low due to deforestation and poaching and recent studies suggest there may be less than 7,000 individuals remaining.

More than 10,000 parrots, including Lories and Cockatoos, are caught from the wild in North Halmahera, Indonesia, each year to supply the domestic and the international illegal wildlife trade.


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