Illegal wildlife trade: Toucan, Macaw among 69 birds seized in Dhaka airport
Importer slapped with Tk72 lakh fine
When Wildlife Inspector of the Bangladesh Forest Department Nigar Sultana got a call from an informant about a consignment of illegal birds at the Dhaka airport this morning, she did not expect the haul to be such a large one.
After making her way to the Hazrat ShahJalal International Airport and getting the greenlight from the customs, she was first shown a box containing a Toucan and a Lovebird, both birds which cannot be imported without permission or a No Objection Certificate (NOC).
"I was told there would be more birds, so I examined the storage area. I found another box within a box. This one was full of illegal birds," she said.
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Ultimately 69 illegal birds, including Hyacinth Macaw, six eagles and 50 other lovebirds were discovered.
The birds had arrived from Belgium, according to the port of origin.
There were an additional 101 birds, but those had the required NOC.
The wildlife appealed to the customs to file a case against the importer, 3T. The importer was then slapped with a Tk72 lakh fine.
Asked why such illegal trade continued, Sultana said in the last two years she had stopped 10-12 such shipments and cancelled 5-6 trade licences of violators.
"But it is difficult even for us to get constant access to the airport," she said.
The birds were sent to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Gazipur.
