KUALA LUMPUR: Some people lead lavish lives and own assets worth hundreds of thousands of ringgit by selling protected wild birds.
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) Peninsular Malaysia discovered this when it detained syndicate members and bird enthusiasts selling wild birds on social media.
Some suspects owned a Toyota Vellfire MPV, luxury homes and monthly incomes reaching tens of thousands of ringgit.
Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said some suspects were only clerks or were unemployed but had luxurious lives.
He said these people bought birds from middlemen or those who caught serindit, murai batu, bayan puling and other species before advertising them on social media.
"Some birds were bought for between RM500 and RM1,000 each. They were then sold to enthusiasts for up to RM5,000 each.
"Though this may seem like a waste of money, only bird enthusiasts understand this hobby. They are willing to spend a lot of money to own birds with the best chirps."
He said Perhilitan conducted many initiatives to curb the illegal hunting of wild birds.
"We've achieved many successes with Op Khazanah to combat wildlife crimes and forest encroachment. We did this with the help of the police and Customs Department."
He said Perhilitan also worked the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department, Perak State Parks Corporation and Johor State Parks Corporation to curb these activities.
"Wildlife crime is ranked fourth among global crimes.
"Interpol estimates that wildlife smuggling generates an income of US$20 billion annually."
Kadir said high demand among bird enthusiasts domestically and internationally caused the prices of certain bird species to rise.
"Among the protected wild birds popular with syndicates are murai batu, serindit, kelicap kunyit, burung daun, burung sanwu, hua mei, cockatoos and barau-barau.
"Perhilitan has seized birds worth more than RM3 million since 2019."