Dubai: The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), in coordination with local government authorities in Sharjah, seized nearly 400 ornamental birds that are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
The ministry has received 28 notifications about violations through the UAE Federal Feedback Gateway and direct phone calls to the customer happiness centres.
Trading in these species is prohibited under Federal Law No. (11) of 2002 concerning Regulating and Controlling the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The birds were seized from an Asian man who had kept them at an apartment, the ministry said on Tuesday.
“ ... the perpetrator, of Asian origin, harboured, with the intent to trade, a large number of birds in his residential apartment, which is close to the Birds and Animals Market in Al Jubail area, Sharjah,” it said.
Al Za’abi said: “We coordinated with the Sharjah Police’s investigation department to orchestrate the raid on the Asian’s apartment. We seized around 400 Cites-listed birds, as the perpetrator failed to present a proof of their legal ownership. Our control team handed the birds over to one of the ministry’s quarantine centres.”
He noted that the ministry, through the UAE Federal Feedback Gateway and direct phone calls to the customer happiness centres, has received 28 notifications about cases of violation of various nature like the violation of the CITES, the Animal Welfare Law, and other environmental protection laws in the UAE.
