- Indonesian authorities seized 6,860 smuggled songbirds in East Java, highlighting the persistent illegal songbird trade fueled by deep cultural practices.
- The shipment originated from West Nusa Tenggara province, east of Java, reflecting shifting trade routes after a similar October 2024 bust in Sumatra disrupted supply chains from that island west of Java.
- While the confiscated birds were from species unprotected under current laws, violations included the lack of capture permits and required health certificates, with 579 birds found dead.
- Experts warn the weak regulation of the songbird trade threatens wild populations, increases extinction risks, and poses public health concerns through potential zoonoses.
Authorities in Indonesia have made yet another major seizure of smuggled songbirds, highlighting the persistent pressure from a trade with deep cultural roots in the country.
The shipment of 6,860 songbirds from West Nusa Tenggara province was intercepted on Feb. 1 following a tip at Tanjung Wangi Port at the eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia’s most populous island and the main market for the songbird trade. A similar seizure occurred three months earlier at a port in Sumatra heading for Java’s westernmost port.
In the latest seizure, authorities confiscated 134 boxes of birds from a truck at Tanjung Wangi Port in Banyuwangi, East Java province. Banyuwangi serves as the gateway into Java for people and goods arriving from islands farther east, including Bali and the Nusa Tenggara archipelago.
The boxes contained various songbird species, including zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), red avadavats (Amandava amandava) and streaked weavers (Ploceus manyar).
According to bird trafficking watchdog group FLIGHT, this latest seizure indicates that traders are seeking new sources of birds and shifting trading routes following the Sumatran bust in October 2024 at Bakauheni Port in Lampung province. That bust, in which 6,514 birds were confiscated and suspects were charged with wildlife trafficking and quarantine violations, has made it more difficult for major traders in Java to secure supplies, FLIGHT says.
“The major traders are now looking for new sources of supply, including from West Nusa Tenggara, Bali and Kalimantan [Indonesian Borneo],” FLIGHT executive director Marison Guciano said in a news release.
When the truck carrying thousands of illegal birds was stopped earlier this month, officers found 579 dead birds, Marison told Mongabay via email. The surviving birds were translocated to their places of origin in West Nusa Tenggara and released into suitable habitats after being confirmed healthy by quarantine authorities.
Although the confiscated songbirds weren’t protected under either domestic or international laws, Marison said two regulations were violated: one requiring permits and compliance with capture quotas for wild animals, and another mandating a health certificate for animals entering or being released from quarantine.
A suspect was arrested but later released as the birds weren’t specifically protected by law, though charges under the Quarantine Act were warranted due to the lack of a health certificate, Marison said. He added the failure to charge may stem from the low priority given to the illegal songbird trade, often seen by the government as a “trivial crime” compared to trafficking of higher-profile species like tigers, elephants and rhinos.
Marison said this case adds to the growing list of illegal songbird trade practices in Indonesia, where at least 300,000 songbirds have been seized in the past five years, reflecting a strong market driven by the cultural practice of keeping birds, especially among ethnic Javanese households.
“Government protection for songbirds is still very weak. But the trade is so massive that some songbird species are rarely seen in the wild,” he said. “If this is not stopped, the populations of many songbird species in Indonesia will decline drastically, and even become extinct from the wild. Not only that, the illegal trade in songbirds also increases the risk of zoonoses that could pose a threat to public health.”
Banner image: The red avadavat (Amandava amandava), also known as the red munia or strawberry finch, is a small bird native to the grasslands and open fields of tropical Asia. It is a popular cage bird, prized for the vibrant plumage displayed by males during the breeding season. Image by Paneendra BA via Flickr (CC BY-NC 4.0)
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