Behind the bars: Parrots and their seller
July 29, 2007 — Filed in: Conservation
T’PURAM: Ramu from Thanjavur had no inkling of what awaited him when he boarded the bus to Thiruvananthapuram with two baskets of parakeets.
Neither did he know where he was being taken, when a stranger offered him a big sale. Ramu was driven straight to the Forest Department office, where a case has been slapped against him for illegal trade of the parrots, something that occurs everyday in the city pet shops.
“I swear I did not hunt down these birds. In our village they catch parrots from paddy and corn fields. I bought these birds from them,” said Ramu.
He was later taken to Paruthipally and remanded in custody for the non-bailable offence. The hundred and odd parrots, that included both male and female birds, have been temporarily shifted to Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary.
