Bought for a Song: An Indonesian Craze Puts Wild Birds at Risk

“We are involved in conserving birds in Indonesia that are decreasing in number or even in danger of extinction,” Mr. Bastoni asserted.

At the 2018 contest, Mr. Joko praised the breeding business as a boon to “the people’s economy.” The sale of birds, cages, food and medicine generates $120 million annually, said the president, who released dozens of birds purchased from a market.

Soon afterward, Mr. Joko’s environment ministry tried to safeguard the murai batu in the wild by listing it as a protected species.

Outraged bird owners, led by the group Chirping Mania, occupied conservation agency offices around the country. They produced data purportedly showing that the species was not threatened.

After four weeks, the ministry backed down and reversed its decision.

Theoretically, protected status for the murai batu would have required owners to establish the bird’s provenance whenever one was entered into a singing competition. But Mr. Marison said that rule was rarely if ever enforced. And plenty of other species listed as protected find their way into Indonesia’s bird markets.

One trader, Cin Aidiwanto, 52, said he employed 20 hunters to catch birds for him in Sumatra’s largest national park, Kerinci Seblat.

He finances their expeditions, he said, with food, cash and cigarettes.

“I send my hunters to the forest and they return in 10 days,” he said. “Then I get all the birds they capture.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/18/world/asia/indonesia-songbirds-competition.html