Fifty eggs suspected to be those of endangered parrots were intercepted at South Africa’s foremost airport in Johannesburg last Thursday – and some of them have now hatched.
A 50-year-old Thai national was arrested for allegedly making an attempt to smuggle them in a “homemade incubator bag” carried as hand baggage, according to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE).
Many of the rescued eggs have efficiently hatched, with the chicks now receiving “intensive” care to “maximise their chances of survival”, it added.
If convicted, the suspected wildlife trafficker faces a wonderful of up to 10m rand ($626,000, £461,000) or up to 10 years in prison, or both.
Initial investigations recommend the eggs belong to a parrot species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
The arrest adopted a joint operation by the DFFE, the Green Scorpions – a specialised environmental enforcement unit – and varied divisions of the police.
Environment Minister David Maynier has congratulated all the companies concerned, saying “illegal wildlife trafficking can only be challenged by a co-ordinated defence of our natural heritage”.
He notably thanked the devoted employees at the National Zoological Garden in the capital, Pretoria, “who have been working tirelessly to incubate the seized eggs and provide specialised care to the hatchlings”.
Last Thursday’s arrest follows that of a 23-year-old Thai citizen in July, also caught at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, who was making an attempt to smuggle 418 parrot eggs.
The arrests highlighted the growing sophistication of transnational wildlife trafficking networks and bolstered “the importance of co-ordinated, intelligence-led law enforcement efforts”, the DFFE said.
The unlawful assortment and trafficking of parrot eggs posed “a serious threat to wild bird populations and animal welfare”, it added.
Officials defined that such eggs were typically smuggled in improvised incubators and in situations that endangered the welfare of developing embryos and hatchlings.
Wildlife trafficking stays a main menace in South Africa, one of the world’s most biodiverse international locations, with legal networks regularly focusing on animals such as elephants and pangolins, for sale on the worldwide black market.
To fight the menace, the nation adopted a new strategy six years in the past to strengthen collaboration between authorities establishments, law enforcement companies, conservation authorities, customs officers, prosecutors and worldwide companions to dismantle legal networks concerned in the illicit wildlife commerce.
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