Songbirds in Boxes

Monday, September 7, 2020

It is estimated that about a million songbirds from Sumatra, including some protected species, have been smuggled off the island over the past year. The lucrative nature of this business threatens the populations of a number of bird species as well as the balance of the ecosystem. It is suspected that this smuggling involves authorities from a number of institutions. Tempo made this report in cooperation with Internews’ Earth Journalism Network.

Smuggled birds confiscated by law officers at the Merak Port, Banten, July 2019. / Flight Protecting Indonesia’s Bird. tempo : 173222321577.

A plainclothes police officer approached a white Daihatsu Xenia car at the ticket checking post at the Bakauheni Port, Lampung, on Tuesday night, July 7. That car was queuing to board a ferry bound for Merak Port in Banten. The officer reached the driver’s side door and took a look back into the cabin where he saw a pile of boxes of fruit.

He then opened the front door and took over the driving seat. The driver slid over to the left, movin

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