The FSB has handed over fifty one smuggled parrots to the Zoo in Rostov-on-Don, after they were detained by the agency’s regional border department. The parrots’ value is estimated to be around one million roubles (GBP 13,000).
The rare birds, among which were rose-ringed parakeets, eastern rosellas, New Zealand kakariki and lovebirds, were held up in the village of Stanitsa on the Russo-Ukrainian border in June. A Ukrainian citizen was carrying the birds in cardboard boxes under packs of biscuits, and had no veterinary documentation on the parrots, reports Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
The smuggler was detained at the border explaining that he was a breeder going to visit the Rostov exhibition of rare birds, but could not provide any documentation. As a result, all the parrots were temporarily housed with a local vet, monitored and after a health inspection were transferred to Rostov Zoo for permanent residence.
