In West Bengal wildlife officials seized 46 parakeets from a bird trader in West Bengal's Darjeeling District. The illegal wildlife trader was nabbed when officials raided a bus and found parakeets packed in a carton.
The flock comprised blossom-headed, slaty-headed (left) and rose-ringed parakeets (right).The illegal bird trade thrives in the northern parts of West Bengal, and demand for them is high, with Bihar being a major market.
Wildlife agencies claim that poaching is adding to the decline of the bird population in India. Birds are already facing the threat of a shrinking habitat, said Animesh Bose, program coordinator of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure
Foundation. Parakeets and Hill Mynahs (left) are included in endangered list of birds.India is home to 1,225 bird species, including 257 water birds. The country also supports 81 species of migrant water fowls, which arrive from Central Asia and Europe during winter.
The hunting or the caging of endangered wildlife is banned in India, but lax laws and lax law enforcement and/or mild punishment, leave poaching and smuggling of rare species to run rampant.
Wildlife authorities say that in most cases, the birds are trapped and their feathers torn out. At times the birds are killed for their pristine feathers.
In India, parrots (right) are used by fortune tellers to forecast the future. The caging of the birds, especially parrots, is considered illegal and punishable with a fine, or imprisonment of up to five years.
Birdlife International, a worldwide conservation group, recently warned that some 300 Asian bird species face extinction, particularly in India, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and China, due to poor protection and habitat destruction.
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