Caging Birds? You Could End Up Behind Bars for Committing Wildlife Crime, Warns PETA India In Its New Billboards Ahead of World Wildlife Day

Posted on by Erika Goyal

Ahead of World Wildlife Day (3 March), PETA India has launched a billboard blitz in the cities with the biggest bird markets—Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, and Varanasi. The billboards warn against buying or selling Indian birds, emphasizing that such actions are illegal and can result in up to seven years in jail and a fine of ₹1 lakh. 

In recent years, PETA India found parakeets crammed on top of each other in tiny cages in small, dark, unventilated rooms, suffocating and jostling for air and space. Baby parakeets were stuffed on top of each other in tiny cardboard boxes. Many dead birds were found trapped between the wire mesh of the cages and on the floor – some of the bodies had even started decaying. 

In nature, birds engage in social activities, such as taking sand baths, playing hide-and-seek, dancing, and building nests with their mates. But when they’re caged, these vibrant animals become depressed and withdrawn. They often over-preen themselves to the point of mutilation. Some people forcefully clip birds’ wings so they can’t fly away.  

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