BENGALURU: Forest officials raided a pub on the Hennur-Bagalur Main Road on January 11 and rescued exotic birds that were being displayed there for commercial purposes. A total of nine birds from five species, including blue and gold macaw, African grey parrot, blue conure, yellow sided conure and pineapple conure, were rescued. Such birds cannot be kept or displayed as per the Central Zoo Authority rules, an official said.
All the birds belong to the Psittacidae family and are protected under Schedule 6 of the Wildlife Protection Amendment Act (WPA), 2022. As they are exotic species, their display under the WPA is prohibited. The rescued birds have been sent to the Bannerghatta Rescue Centre for rehabilitation and observation.
“Based on videos posted on various social media platforms and information obtained, we raided Wild Pour pub on January 11 and seized the live birds. This is the first raid by the department in the last decade, where live birds have been seized,” said Bengaluru Urban Deputy Conservator of Forests N Ravindrakumar.
Investigating officials said the pub management was unable to explain from where they had obtained the birds. Earlier, they said the birds were born in captivity on the premises, but could not explain the parent lineage. Then they said they bought them on rent from a vendor named Roohidh Pasha and kept them on display as an added attraction for visitors, charging certain rates, which proves the commercial nature of the practice, the official said.
“During interrogation, Roohidh Pasha from Guddadahalli said the Macaw was brought on rent from one Chandan Acharya of Pets Choice in Vajrahalli, Kanakpura Road, and the African grey parrot was bought from Mahendra’s Saloon in JP Nagar 8th Phase. However, the accused failed to provide any valid permit or registration for possessing the animals,” the official added.
Ravindrakumar said the management did not have any valid documents for the birds and the details were not listed on the Parivesh Portal as per rules. As per import rules, no commercial benefit can be drawn by housing wild or exotic species.
“Multiple efforts are being done to seize exotic species. Many have already entered the rivers and lakes and are killing the native species. They spread disease and harm the endemic and native environment,” Ravindrakumar added.