Smuggled Birds to be Flown Home. (22 October, 1996)

Tel Aviv - Twenty-five rare parrots smuggled to Israel aboard a ship will make their way home to Ghana this week aboard a British Airways flight, Israeli officials said yesterday. The African grey parrots, an endangered species protected by international law, were seized several months ago by Israeli authorities at the northern port of Haifa. Their return was delayed by a quarantine period, and and investigation to determine their origin.

'It seems the Ivory Coast is the place where most of this contraband is loaded. They (crew memebers) smuggle the parrots off in twos and threes and sell them in bars in Mediterranean ports.' said Bill Clark, The Israeli Nature Reserve Authority's delegate to Interpol's subgroup on wildlife crime. Reuters. Courtesy of The Star.