Indonesia: Striking a blow against the bird mafia
A single truck carrying 6,514 birds, crammed into 216 crates by bird traffickers, was seized by police at a port in Sumatra. The tireless work of our partner organization, Flight – Protecting Indonesia’s Birds, led to this spectacular bust.
Never before have authorities at the port of Bakauheni, Sumatra, seized so many birds in a single vehicle. Most of the birds are finches and passerines. Their sheer number how widespread bird trafficking still is.
This makes the work of our partner, Flight, all the more important. The organization’s activists have been tracking the hunting and trafficking of birds for years. Flight regularly rescues hundreds of birds and other wildlife such as pangolins and monkeys. The animal rights advocates collaborate with the port veterinary office and the police. The animals are examined, sick and injured birds are treated and nursed back to health at Flight’s rescue station, and healthy animals are released back into the wild in the rainforest.
Flight’s work is making a tangible difference: In Sumatra, small-scale bird trappers and some trafficking rings have thrown in the towel. Traffickers have been arrested and convicted.
The destination of the birds is usually the island of Java, where songbirds have long been a status symbol and many cities have notorious bird markets. Our petition Indonesia: ban the trade in wild birds! with 243,597 signatures called for a ban on these markets. Flight has presented the petition to the authorities in the capital, Jakarta, on several occasions, but has yet to receive a response.
“The most effective solution is to stop bird trapping and smuggling directly in the forests. We do this by being present in many of Indonesia’s forest areas,” said Marison Guciano.
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Flight and Rainforest Rescue are at the forefront of the fight against bird trafficking.
Flight has held numerous seminars with police and authorities, and public awareness has grown thanks to the organization’s work. However, the pressure on Sumatra’s birdlife continues and is increasingly affecting unprotected species due to massive demand, both locally and internationally.
“The bird trade has shifted to eastern Indonesia. More and more birds from the Moluccas and Papua are coming to the Philippines by sea via Java and Sulawesi,” Guciano added.
Many other animals from Indonesia’s rainforests continue to be traded internationally, despite biodiversity conferences and the efforts of animal rights and environmental activists.
352,984 people from around the world have spoken: Shut down wildlife markets NOW! Please sign this petition.
Further reading:
Flight (2023): Sumatran Birds Under Pressure
Flight (2024): A Joint Team Thwarts Smuggling of 6,514 Sumatran Birds at Bakauheni Port
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Protecting wildlife and its habitat
Our work protects iconic rainforest wildlife like gorillas in the Congo Basin, orangutans in Indonesia and jaguars in Brazil, as well as countless others.
Giving captive birds their freedom
In Indonesia, the illegal trade in birds is booming – to the point that forests are falling silent. Our partner organization FLIGHT is fighting the poachers, putting pressure on policymakers, and awakening people’s love of birds in the wild.
Shut down wildlife markets NOW!
It’s time to shut down wildlife markets and their brisk business in endangered and poached animals. They are a threat to both biodiversity and human health.
Biodiversity
Life on Earth originated around 4 billion years ago. While it initially existed only in the oceans, it later spread to the land and atmosphere. Since then, an unfathomable number of species have evolved, around half of which are insects. Numerous plant and animal species have yet to be documented, and many new ones are being discovered every day.