Wildlife traffickers are now targeting Indonesia’s critically endangered maleo birds
Maleos, a critically endangered ground-nesting bird found only on Sulawesi, have dropped to just 4,000-7,000 breeding pairs as development and mining destroy their sandy nesting grounds. A new study in the Journal of Asian Ornithology documents the first known cases of live maleos entering international illegal trade, with three seizures totaling 25 birds in 2024, all headed to or caught in India.
The birds are fully protected under CITES and Indonesian law, yet Indonesia has never recorded a single legal export of one. Couriers in the seizures were reportedly offered free Southeast Asian holidays and cash payments of roughly 75,000 rupees (about $875) to smuggle birds in suitcases, with researchers noting traffickers favor young families and couples because they clear airport screening faster.
Five maleos seized in Mumbai in June 2024 died within weeks before any repatriation could happen. Four Indian nationals caught smuggling 12 more in July were fined 10,000 rupees, about $107 total, for birds already down to a few thousand pairs in the wild.
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