The bird of paradise (fotohewan.info)
Jayapura , 7/4 ( Jubi ) – Quarantine officials in Jayapura foiled an attempt to smuggle four birds, three birds of paradise and a king cockatoo out of Papua on Monday (31/3).
“At ship’s entrance, the officers found a carton of cigarettes. When checked, there were birds in a box hidden under sacks of rice,“ the head of Agricultural Quarantine Class I Jayapura , H. Suryo Irianto Putro said.
“Before the owner was found, the ship had already left. So, the officers seized the birds and took them to the Office of Agricultural Quarantine. Unfortunately, one of the birds of paradise died. We plan to hand it to Papua Natural Resources Conservation Center on Tuesday ( 8/4),” he added.
The head of Supervision and Enforcement at the Jayapura Quarantine Agency, Hendri Lumbaa Boas, said officers immediately reported the finding to the Center for Agricultural Quarantine Agency, the Governor of Papua and the Police Chief.
“We will send them back and hope that the people of Papua can participate in protecting the wildlife, ” Boas said. ( Jubi / Arjuna/ Tina)
