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Indonesian smuggler 'hid birds in plastic bottles'

A policeman holds a water bottle with a yellow-crested cockatoo put inside for illegal trade, at the customs office of Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, East Java province, Indonesia, May 4, 2015
The birds were kept inside bottles to keep them from flapping, customs officials say
Police in Indonesia have arrested a man they suspect was smuggling rare birds inside plastic bottles.


The man was allegedly caught carrying the live birds on a passenger ship near the city of Surabaya.
They included 21 yellow-crested cockatoos, which are listed as endangered. They were kept inside bottles to stop them from flapping.
The birds are known to sell through legal channels for as much as £1,000 ($1,500) each.
Customs officials said the haul also included an unspecified number of green parrots.
A police officer holds a water bottle which with a yellow-crested cockatoo put inside for illegal trade at the customs office of Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, East Java province, Indonesia, May 4, 2015
The number of yellow-crested cockatoos in the wild has dropped due to smuggling
The exact number of yellow-crested cockatoos in the wild is not known, but the International Union for Conservation of Nature place it on their critically-endangered list.
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.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/

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