The yellow-crested cockatoos were found by officials at the Tanjung Perak port in the city of Surabaya. Image by Jefta Images/BarcroftIndonesian police have intercepted and saved two-dozen critically endangered cockatoos that wildlife traffickers were trying to smuggle of the country in plastic bottles.
The yellow-crested cockatoos were found on Monday by officials at the Tanjung Perak port in the city of Surabaya in east Java.
The birds, which are native to Indonesia and East Timor and measure up to 35cm, reportedly cost up to £650 on the black market.
Yellow-crested cockatoos inserted in empty water bottles at Port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya. Image by BarcroftThat illegal trade means the yellow-crested cockatoo is facing “an extremely rapid population decline” with only around 7,000 of the animals left, according to the Bird Life website, which tracks bird populations.
The species came under particular pressure because of wildlife traffickers and deforestation in the last 25 years of the 20th century, the website said, noting that “it is now extinct on many [Indonesian] islands and close to extinction on most others”.
Criminal gangs that prey on Indonesian wildlife continued to flourish last year, according to a recent report by Profauna, an NGO that monitors threats to the country’s environment.
A police officer holds a water bottle containing a yellow-crested cockatoo. Image by ReutersCitizens of China, Kuwait and France were arrested for attempting to smuggle wild animals out of the country although the destination of the birds found on Monday was not immediately clear.
The yellow cockatoos’ “precipitous decline is almost entirely attributable to unsustainable exploitation for internal and international trade”, according to Bird Life.