Smuggled parrots thrive at South Florida preserve

LOXAHATCHEE GROVES — Florida International University professor Paul Reillo recalled the urgent call from federal wildlife officers in March. Eggs from an unknown bird species confiscated from a smuggler at Miami International Airport were beginning to hatch, the officers reported.

Within a matter of hours, Reillo was able to help set up a makeshift incubator at a U.S. Department of Agriculture quarantine center at the airport.

Two months later, the two dozen rare Amazon parrots from Central America rescued that day are thriving under the care of a Palm Beach County-based wildlife conservation organization — and a man from Taiwan is facing federal smuggling charges for bringing them into the United States.

"They are healthy. They are fully feathered now. Some are starting to fly around, so these tiny little eggs are now parrots," said Reillo, director of the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation, a nonprofit based in Loxahatchee Groves.

Makuach Yak:Delray man found dead brought 'immeasurable joy' to family, other South Sudanese athletes

Lantana plane crash:Victims were teacher and student who had been training since December

Butcher Shop:What's happening with West Palm restaurant from Guy Fieri's show "Diner's, Drive-ins & Dives"

Reillo said the birds were the target of a suspected smuggling operation based in Asia, snatched from their native habitat in Central America.

The parrots are an endangered species because of decreasing populations in recent years. They have been the target of widespread smuggling and poaching operations fueled by sellers in the international caged-bird market, Reillo said.

"What drives that is greed," he said. "There is no other way to describe it. These birds sell for a lot of money. They’re very charismatic. They’re good talkers, they’ve very attractive, so they’re under tremendous demand in the caged-bird trade."

Court documents show that Szu Ta Wu, a citizen of Taiwan, was arrested March 23 on a federal smuggling charge after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents intercepted him at the Miami airport and confiscated a bag that contained 29 parrot eggs.

According to a criminal complaint, Wu arrived on a flight from Managua, Nicaragua, that day and told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer he had nothing to declare. The officer heard a chirping and squeaking sound coming from Wu's carry-on suitcase and asked about the sound. Wu opened the suitcase, pulled out a smaller bag and then took out what appeared to be a bird egg. The officer looked into the bag and saw more bird eggs and a hatchling.

Wu was taken into custody and later told investigators that a friend paid him to travel from Taiwan to Nicaragua, where the bird eggs were to be delivered to him at a hotel. Wu said he agreed to transport the eggs to Taiwan. He denied knowing what type of bird eggs were in his possession and said he hid the eggs and did not declare them because he thought he would have to pay for them.

He pleaded guilty on May 5 to one count of smuggling during a hearing in Miami and is scheduled to be sentenced in August. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Court records show that Wu was represented by an attorney from the Federal Public Defender's Office in Miami. A message to the attorney listed as his representative was not immediately returned.

Since taking custody of the eggs and young hatchlings, the Loxahatchee Groves organization has provided round-the-clock care for the parrots with the hope that they can one day be returned to their native habitat.

A day after Reillo set up the makeshift incubator at the airport, six or seven new hatchlings and the remaining eggs were taken to the Loxahatchee Groves facility and placed under a mandatory 45-day quarantine, effectively shutting down the clinic while the birds were incubated, hatched and tested for pathogens.

Of the 29 eggs confiscated, 26 hatched, with 24 of the chicks surviving, Reillo said.

Twenty-one of the birds were identified as yellow-naped Amazon parrots and the other three were identified as red-lored parrots. The species are endangered and are prohibited from international commerce and trade, said Reillo, who is a professor at FIU's School of Environment, Arts and Society and director of the Tropical Conservation Institute.

"These eggs and young chicks went through an incredible journey," he said. "We don't know exactly when they were taken out of their nest trees, or where they might have been collected …

"It's really exceptional that of the 29 eggs that were in that bag, 26 of them hatched … and of the 26 that hatched, 24 are now parrots. We had no idea that that many eggs would be viable."

But for every success story, there are numerous smuggling events that go undetected, many resulting in the animals dying before reaching the smuggler's intended destination, Reillo said.

Reillo said many smuggling operations involve bribing locals to raid bird nests and deliver the eggs to smugglers at centralized locations. The home range for Amazon parrots includes Nicaragua, Honduras, parts of Guatemala and Costa Rica.

"Just because (Wu) began his journey from Managua, Nicaragua, does not mean that these parrots are in fact from Nicaragua," Reillo said. "We know that there is a pipeline of wildlife trafficking that includes multiple countries. Quite often the birds are consolidated and fly out of Nicaragua because the customs and border protection measures are weak, and the smugglers know that."

He said the long-term objective is to transfer the parrots to a facility in Central America that can rehabilitate the birds and train them to be released into the wild. The center is working with nongovernmental organizations in the U.S. that have ties to Central America.

As of Tuesday, an agency in California that specializes in parrot recovery and reintroduction had been identified as a possible spot for temporary relocation.

If approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the parrots could be moved there by early to mid-June. Reillo said several people have called expressing an interest in adopting the birds.

He stressed that the birds will not be made available for adoption, as the intent is to return them to the wild.

"As of today, I think we have a pathway to get them, not only rehabilitated and flying in large spaces, but ultimately a pathway to get them back home," Reillo said.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at@JuliusWhigham. Help support our work:Subscribe today.