Only 9 of 21 birds stuffed in plastic bottles survived, says conservation group

Some of the surviving cockatoos. They had been found stuffed in plastic water bottles in the luggage of a suspected wildlife smuggler. PHOTO BY MEHD HALAOUATE – WORLD PARROT TRUST

Only nine of 21 birds found stuffed in plastic water bottles in the luggage of a suspected wildlife smuggler survived, said a conservation group which provided updates on the case widely reported earlier this month.

The remaining birds, mostly cockatoos, are now at the Maharani Zoo in East Java.

Indonesian police made the shocking discovery on May 4 when they stopped a 37-year-old man as he alighted from a passenger ship at Port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, a city on the main island of Java. The man has been arrested.

Photographs showed the birds peering out of the bottles after being found by officers. The bottoms of the bottles had been cut off to squeeze the birds inside.–Straits Times/ANN