For Immediate Release:
07 August 2024
Contact:
Meet Ashar; AsharM@petaindia.org
Hiraj Laljani; HirajL@petaindia.org
Kanpur – This week, acting on a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India and with the support of the Kotwali Police Station, the Kanpur division of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, led by Divisional Forest Officer Smt Divya, IFS, recovered over 700 birds – including some 90 rose-ringed parakeets, 50 plum-headed parakeets, 10 Alexandrine parakeets, 250 scaly-breasted munias, 150 Indian silverbill munias, 110 red munias, 50 tricoloured munias, and a common hill myna – from shops at Parade Bazar in Kanpur. PETA India had sent a formal complaint to Kanpur forest officials requesting that the birds be recovered and the sellers booked. Three alleged perpetrators were arrested after the Kotwali Police Station registered a first information report against them under the relevant sections of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972.
In April, Kanpur forest officials rescued Indian ring-necked parakeets that were being kept in small, dingy cages at a sugarcane juice vendor’s shop and registered a preliminary offence report against the alleged illegal custodian in response to a complaint by PETA India.
Following their rescue, the surviving birds were sent for a health check, treatment, and temporary rehabilitation. They will be released in nature once their recovery is complete.
Common hill mynas are protected under Schedule I of the WPA. Buying, selling, or possessing a Schedule I species is an offence punishable by a jail term of between three and seven years and a fine of at least Rs 25,000. Rose-ringed, plum-headed, and Alexandrine parakeets – as well as scaly-breasted, Indian silverbill, red, and tricoloured munias – are protected under Schedule II of the WPA, 1972. Buying, selling, or possessing species protected under Schedule II is an offence punishable by a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh, a jail term of up to three years, or both. Non-native endangered species are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and Schedule IV of the WPA, 1972.
“Birds are social beings who are born to fly in the open sky – not spend their lives lonely and miserable in cages,” says PETA India Cruelty Response Coordinator Virendra Singh. “PETA India is deeply grateful to the Kanpur division of the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, particularly Divisional Forest Officer Smt Divya, IFS, for their prompt intervention and action, which helped rescue the birds and showed that wildlife crimes will not be tolerated.”
In the illegal bird trade, countless birds are taken from their families and denied everything that’s natural and important to them so that they can be sold as “pets” or used as bogus “fortune-tellers.” Fledglings are often snatched from their nests, and other birds panic as they’re caught in traps or nets that can seriously injure or kill them as they struggle to break free. Captured birds are packed into small boxes, and an estimated 60% of them die in transit from broken wings and legs, thirst, or sheer panic. Those who survive face a bleak life in captivity, suffering from malnutrition, loneliness, depression, and stress.
PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way” – points out that the WPA, 1972, bans the capture, caging, and trading of indigenous birds and that non-compliance can result in imprisonment, a fine, or both. In addition, caging birds violates The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, which stipulates that it’s illegal to keep or confine any animal in a cage or other receptacle that doesn’t provide them with a reasonable opportunity for movement – and for an aerial bird, that includes flight.
For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
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