Bangladesh rescues over 300 birds of rare, endangered species

Dhaka, Dec 23 (IANS) The Wildlife Crime Control Unit of Bangladesh's Forest Department has rescued about 300 birds of different rare and endangered species, officials said on Friday.

Unit officials in collaboration with law enforcers rescued the birds in Savar on the outskirts of capital Dhaka, Ashim Mallick, a Wildlife Crime Control Unit official, told Xinhua.

Acting on a tip-off, they raided a Savar area on Friday and rescued 304 birds including endangered rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri), Vernal Hanging Parrot (Loriculus Vernalis) and Tricoloured Munia (Lonchura Malacca).

He said the birds were emancipated later in the day at a botanical garden in Dhaka. No one was arrested in connection with the seizure of the birds.

Sources said local smuggling syndicates with foreign links are increasingly using Bangladesh as a route to transport birds of different rare and endangered species.

Last month the Wildlife Crime Control Unit rescued 1,451 birds of different rare and endangered species and detained three people suspected of being involved in smuggling of wild birds in the South Asia region.