Red lory parrots were found illegally imported to Việt Nam via Nội bài International Airport early this week. — Photo baohaiquan.vn

HÀ NỘI — More than 300 red lory parrots – an endangered bird found only in Indonesia – were suspected to have been imported to Việt Nam illegally earlier this week.

On Monday, customs officers at Nội Bài International Airport found the parrots alive in ten packages that were reportedly from Indonesia, transited in Malaysia, to Việt Nam.

On the packages’ bill of lading, the sender is PT SINAR NATAMA TRANS LOGISTIC while the receiver’s address is in Hoàng Mai District, Hà Nội.

On Tuesday, Nội Bài Airport customs transferred the parrots to Hà Nội’s Forest Protection Department for quarantine.

According to the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, the red lory parrot is listed in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)’s Appendix II, meaning that legal documents are required for the import of the bird including permissions granted from CITES agencies in the exporting country and importing country as well as post-import animal quarantine.

Vice director of CITES Việt Nam, Vương Tiến Mạnh, said that the agency would contact its counterpart in Indonesia over the exporting permission.

If the parrot packages were not eligible for import to Việt Nam, they would be returned to Indonesia, Mạnh said.

If the exporting country refused to accept them, the importing country would complete legal procedures for their preservation, he added.

In Việt Nam, a red lory parrot can be sold for up to VNĐ5 million (US$214). — VNS