Scorpion Foundation today (22/02/2016) urged government relevant agencies via emails and phone calls, including quarantine office, Law Enforcement Directorate general at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, to avoid mass deaths of birds confiscated by police in Merak Port, Banten on Sunday (21/02/2016).
As reported by tangselpos.co.id, the police at Merak Port, Cilegon, Banten province of Indonesia, aborted smuggling of 480 birds from Sumatra to Java. The birds, which had no document at all, were found inside luggage rack of a bus ( Putra Remaja) on the way from Jambi (Sumatra) to Solo (Java). The birds were placed inside 19 cages.
Scorpion Foundation called the police at Merak Port today and got the explanation that the birds were at quarantine (of Ministry of Agriculture) and that the police were waiting guidance for further action.
In December 2015, the police in East Java confiscated 2,700 birds smuggled from East Kalimantan. Due to slow quarantine process in East Java, most birds died, and only about 10% could be released to the wild in East Kalimantan. Therefore, Scorpion asked the government relevant agencies to avoid such mass deaths of birds again.
