Mega seizure of illegal birds spotlights Indonesia’s wildlife trafficking scale and challenge
Quarantine authorities in Lampung, Indonesia have seized a solitary truck carrying a jaw dropping 6,514 birds, believed to be country’s biggest seizure of an illegal shipment of birds from a single vehicle.
For context, the figure is close to half the total number of birds this agency has confiscated from illegal trade over nine months in Lampung province in 2023.
This seizure and others earlier this year look set to make 2024 a record-breaking one in a country synonymous with a history and passion for bird keeping and trade. The final figure is expected to surpass the 15,896 birds the agency seized in 2021 and 22,297 in 2022 in the same province.
The traffickers’ use of a closed truck, which denied enforcers any visibility of its cargo, and routing through a facility considered an alternative to Lampung’s main Bakauheni sea port, made clear the challenge of fighting wild bird smuggling even for enforcement agencies that are vigilant and persistent.
Crammed into 216 boxes, the birds were found in the vehicle in the province’s Bandar Bakau Jaya Port which prioritises the ferrying of heavy vehicles crossing the Sunda Strait from Sumatra, where the birds originated, to Java where bustling bird markets are located.
Lampung, at the southern tip of Sumatra, is home to some of Indonesia’s busiest ports and a transportation pinch point which has seen repeated seizures over the years.
The mega shipment on 15 October was deemed illegal as it did not have the requisite documents, including a health certificate, and was not reported to Quarantine authorities or put through a quarantine process before it was transported across provinces.
Quarantine officers were supported by the Kerinci Task Force of the Indonesian National Army's Strategic Intelligence Unit, Lampung Police, Penengahan Police, and non-governmental organisation FLIGHT, during the operation.
According to FLIGHT, only 257 of the birds were from protected species under the Minister of Environment and Forestry's Regulation P.106 of 2018.
This highlights the continued pressure on Sumatran birds, particularly species currently not protected under Indonesian law, to feed the massive demand.
The shipment was dominated by Bar-winged Prinia, white-eyes and tailorbirds, which accounted for 72% of the shipment. The current popularity of Bar-winged Prinias and tailorbirds is line with findings in FLIGHT’s analysis of Sumatra birds in illegal trade. The species weren’t commonly recorded in bird markets prior to 2018.
Two people have been arrested in connection with this seizure. The sender, though already known to authorities, has yet to be apprehended. The police have indicated that they would pursue the receivers and senders.
The seizure comes at a time when the world’s attention is turned towards efforts to halt biodiversity loss at the 16th Conference of the Parties (CoP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
