Cover image via Mail Online
Indonesian police have arrested a man they suspect was trying to smuggle two dozen of yellow-crested cockatoos, a rare bird species, by stuffing them inside plastic bottles. He was caught carrying the live birds on a passenger ship near the Surabaya city.
Image via Mail Online
The yellow-crested cockatoos were found on Monday by officials at Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya. The birds were cut free from bottles and given medical treatment, The Mail Online reported.
Image via Mail Online
According to The BBC, the birds were kept inside bottles to stop them from flapping. The birds, which are native to Indonesia, are known to sell through legal channels for about USD1,500 each.
Yellow-crested cockatoos inserted in empty water bottles at Port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya.
Image via The Telegraph
While the exact number of yellow-crested cockatoos in the wild is not known, according to the Mail Online report, they were listed as a critically endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in 2007
Birdlife, a nature conservation group, say the birds' numbers are dropping due to "unsustainable trapping for the cagebird trade"
In 2013, two Indonesian military employees were given a warning after they were found to be running a bird-smuggling ring on board a military aircraft. Bags containing rare birds were found when the plane refuelled in Australia, according to a report by The BBC.
Meanwhile, a while ago, a guy tried to smuggle 94 iPhones into China by strapping them to his body:
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