Throughout April 2024, the FLIGHT Team recorded that there had been 12 cases of smuggling and illegal wildlife trade in Indonesia.

From the data that has been collected, 2,939 protected and unprotected species have been rescued from illegal trade. Among the animals that were rescued, the majority were birds of various species, totaling 2,865 birds.

Of the total number of birds confiscated, 99.27% ​​were songbirds and 0.73% were croocked beaked bird, such as parrots and cockatoos. Apart from birds, we noted that 59 protected Ambon turtles (Cuora Amboinensis) were also confiscated and rescued, which are endemic animal from Maluku which are protected by law.

Indonesia has regulations that prohibit capturing, injuring, killing, keeping, possessing, maintaining, transporting and trading in live protected animals under Law no. 5 of 1990 with the consequence of a prison sentence of up to 5 years and a fine of up to IDR 100,000,000,- rupiah for violators.

It appears that the existence of statutory prohibitions with quite harsh penalties does not stop illicit wildlife merchants from engaging in their hazardous actions. The perpetrators of illegal wildlife smuggling continue to carry out their actions. The reckless actions of these individuals were generally carried out due to economic factors considering that the number of enthusiasts and market demand in Indonesia for wildlife, especially birds, is very high.