(JP) Poachers target sweet singing Japanese white-eyes

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http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20020428p2a00m0fp018000c.html

 

Poachers target sweet singing Japanese white-eyes

 

The Environment Ministry is poised to take action to

prevent poaching of the popular Japanese white-eye, a

bird with an exquisite song, ministry officials have

said.

 

The ministry has decided to require certificates of

exportation, issued by the Chinese government, to be

attached to imported Chinese white-eyes in order to

prevent poachers falsely describing Japanese

white-eyes as imports from China.

 

The Law concerning Protection of Wildlife stipulates

that one household can keep only one Japanese

white-eye as a measure to help preserve the species.

 

However, a growing number of people have illegally

caught Japanese white-eyes and obtained false import

certificates issued by bird dealers to make them look

like Chinese white-eyes.

 

Japanese and Chinese white-eyes look almost identical,

but the song of the Japanese white-eye is reportedly

much sweeter than that of the Chinese bird.

 

Japanese white-eyes are sold for some 10,000 yen each,

but the price of a Japanese white-eye that wins a

singing contest can rise as high as 1 million yen.

 

Therefore, some cash-strapped crime syndicates are

suspected of poaching Japanese white-eyes and selling

off the silver-voiced singers for huge amounts.

(Mainichi Shimbun, April 28, 2002)

 

 

 

 

 

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