City Parrots

By The Associated Press

Birds crammed into SUV

Mexico city - Highway police seized 250 endangered parrots and 300 parakeets crammed into a sport utility vehicle in northern Mexico, and arrested the driver and a passenger on suspicion of animal trafficking, authorities said Saturday.

Officers in the state of Sinaloa pulled over the vehicle and found the birds stuffed into 11 cages, the Public Safety Department said in a statement.

The Lilac-crowned parrots, native to the area, are considered threatened in some of their habitats and are protected in Mexico. The orange-fronted parakeets are not seriously endangered and their capture is allowed in some states during certain months, according to the website of the National Ecology Institute.

But the two men did not have permits for any of the birds, the Public Safety Department said.

The statement did not say when the traffic stop took place or give information on the birds’ condition.