Breeders of red-whiskered (crested) bulbuls in the South plan to submit a petition, accompanied by a list of about 100,000 supporters, to members of parliament this week, as part of their attempt to remove the bird from the list of protected wildlife species.
The breeders, mainly from the five southernmost provinces of Songkhla, Yala, Pattani, Satun and Narathiwat, have been campaigning for years for the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to have the popular pet bird removed from the list, claiming that many of the birds have been bred domestically and should be regarded as a commercial bird species, which can be a source of income for the breeders.
Last Saturday, the deputy secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, Chanathan Saengphum, called a meeting with representatives of the breeder associations in the five southern provinces, and lecturers from the Faculty of Science at Prince of Songkhla University, for discussions on the matter.
The breeders reportedly told the meeting that many of themare at risk of 5-year prison terms and/or fines of up to 100,000 baht for possessing the birds, because they have not yet registered with the authorities.
They said that the red-whiskered bulbul should be delisted, like Java the dove, which is another popular pet bird in southern Thailand.
