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49 parakeets taken into custody

Staff Reporter

Last month, the Flying Squad seized 60 birds from a vendor at Padivattom. They were released in the forest near Erumugham later.

KOCHI: Forest officials of the Special Protection Force of the Kodanad Range on Tuesday took into custody 49 parakeets from Mukesh Jain of West Kochi.

Mr. Jain had purchased the parakeets from a street vendor on Sunday after paying Rs.3,000. It was after seeing their plight in small cages that he bought the birds for releasing them. They could not be released immediately as the vendors had clipped their wings. It would take at least two months before they could fly. Till then, they would be kept at the Animal Rescue Centre at Kodanad, said D. Rajendran, Divisional Forest Officer, Flying Squad, Ernakulam.

The Forest Officials listed Mr. Jain as a witness in their report regarding the seizure of the birds. No case has been registered as the address and whereabouts of the vendors were not available. Mr. Jain would be a witness in the report as he acted in good faith to save the birds, Mr. Rajendran said. This is the second incident of seizure of parakeets from the district since August.

Last month, the Flying Squad had taken into custody nearly 60 birds from a vendor at Padivattom near Palarivattom. The birds were released in the forest area near Erumugham that comes under the Kodanad Forest Range after they grew back the wings that were clipped, said Deepak Misra, Divisional Forest Officer, Malayattoor Range. It is mostly from the forest areas of Tamil Nadu that the parakeets are trapped and brought to the State for trade. Law prohibits the keeping and trading of parakeets by individuals, as the birds have been included in the Schedule 4 of the Wildlife Act. The unauthorised possession of the birds would invite legal action, warned Forest officials.

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