A joint police operation has busted an exotic-bird smuggling ring, arresting 28 people and seizing birds worth more than €1 million (Dh4.2m). Once sold, birds would be smuggled out of Spain hidden on buses headed to Africa, and delivered to their buyers. Europol says parrot smuggling is on the rise, with some birds fetching hundreds of thousands of euros on the black market. “However, this desire to own such exotic birds is killing them off.”In addition, many purchasers do not understand the hard work that goes into caring for an exotic pet. “Exotic birds are not ‘domesticated’ even when they are bred in captivity.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 19, 2020 12:33 UTC