Joint Patrol Rescued 19 Parrots in Central Halmahera
Central Halmahera Police Department working together with the Aketajawe-Lolobata National Park of Weda Section and PROFAUNA Indonesia rescued 18 parrots from a local of Weda Sub-district of Central Halmahera Regency. The operation which was held on Tuesday, 13th March 2018, was a follow up of a public report to PROFAUNA Indonesia's North Maluku Representative.
The joint operation resulted 18 individuals of parrots including 8 chattering lories (Lorius garrulus), 6 violet-necked lory (Eos squamata), and 4 Eclectus parrots (Eclectus roratus). Among the four Eclectus parrots, one was ill.
Dozens of the birds belonged to Dwi Purnomo, a civil servant in the National Board of Disaster Management. A number of the birds in his house led us to the suspicion that the birds were illegally trafficked.
"We conclude from the information that we received from the public that the birds owned by Dwi Purnomo were allegedly traded," Ekawaty Kaaba, PROFAUNA North Maluku confirmed.
As suspected, Dwi refused to admit that he sold the birds and mentioned that he bought the birds because of pity. However, according to the law, buying and keeping a protected wildlife like an Eclectus parrot violates the law.
Other than the 18 birds, an officer of Central Halmahera Police Department, Baswan Sani, handed over a female Eclectus parrot to the joint team. In total, the team has rescued 19 individuals.