In Indonesia, keeping songbirds as caged pets is a centuries-old practice, and singing competitions—where prizes can include cash, goats, and motorcycles—have turned that tradition into a lucrative pastime. Sandy Ong offers a vivid, unsettling look at how the demand for prize-winning songbirds is fueling massive bird smuggling, decimating species and emptying forests across Southeast Asia.
Gunawan’s shamas are among an estimated 66 million to 84 million caged birds that are kept across Java, the island where 56 percent of Indonesia’s population lives and one in three households owns birds. These include more than 3 million white-rumped shamas and 2 million oriental magpie-robins. Wild birds are believed to be better songsters; hence, many are trapped in forests then crammed into tiny crates, drainpipes and even plastic bottles, destined for pet markets in Jakarta, Surabaya and other big cities. Birds that survive the journey — estimates of mortality rates range from 30 to 80 percent — will spend the rest of their lives confined to cages.
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