The Smuggling Of Eight Mentawai Parrots Has Been Foiled
PADANG - The West Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Unit (BKSDA) team confiscated three Mentawai parrots (Gracula religiosa battens), a protected animal from the hull of an Ambu-boat at Bungus Padang Harbor, which the perpetrators brought from Siberut Island, Mentawai Islands.
The head of the West Sumatra BKSDA, Ardi Andono, said that the confiscation of protected animals on Sunday, April 24 started with information from the Siberut National Park Office officer who said that there were residents who brought eight parrots to take advantage of the Eid homecoming moment via passenger ships.
From this information, the West Sumatra BKSDA officers moved to the Bungus River Transportation and Crossing Port in the early hours of Sunday. Arriving at the location, officers conducted an ambush on the Ambu Ship and found three Mentawai parrots left by the perpetrators who had fled.
"Furthermore, the three protected parrots will be treated at the Padang Animal Transit Place, then they will be released into the Siberut National Park", said Ardi through a press release received in Padang, reported by Antara, Tuesday, April 26.
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Previously, on Saturday, April 23, BTN Siberut officers managed to thwart the smuggling of five Mentawai parrots in Simailepet Harbor that were about to be brought to Padang on a ship, and the protected bird was immediately released into the wild.
Mentawai parrots are protected species based on the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. P.106/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/12/2018. This animal is protected because it is endangered, the hunt for this Mentawai parrot is very high considering its distinctive and unique sound and shape.
Andono appealed to the public not to catch, injure, kill, store, possess, maintain, transport and trade protected animals alive or dead or in the form of body parts, eggs, and destroying their nests, all of which are stated in Law Number 5/1990 concerning Conservation of Resources. Natural Resources and Ecosystems.
If they violate the law, the punishment is in the form of imprisonment for a maximum of five years and a fine of at most IDR 100 million.