Wildlife Smuggling Foiled at Surabaya Seaport

A number of protected wildlife species were rescued from a smuggling attempt, though the smugglers escaped.

The animals consist of avians and reptiles, and was confiscated aboard of Gunung Dempo ship which sailed from Papua to Surabaya. The ship arrived in Surabaya on Thursday (26/2/2015) at 21.00.

"When the ship docked, our team went on board and searched for the smuggled animals," said AKBP Arnapi, the Chief of Police at Tanjung Perak Seaport.

The team found 13 birds of paradise, 4 palm cockatoos, 100 flying squirrels, 4 lories, 2 eclectus parrots, 5 black-capped cockatoos, 30 snakes, and 25 lizards. The smuggled animals were stuffed into pipes with small holes barely enough to breathe.

Following this confiscation, the animals were to be transferred to the Natural Resource Conservation Agency to be treated. The agency will also identify which of them are protected by the law of Indonesia.

Source: detiknews.com