Bird poaching

Bird poaching

In a recent article in the "Across the Archipelago Section," (Bird poaching declines in Irian Jaya, Saturday, Feb. 25, 1995), I am quoted as saying that poaching of Birds-of-Paradise in Irian Jaya is declining.

I have never made any statement to this effect, and have no knowledge as to the current volume of Bird-of-Paradise poaching in Irian Jaya; indeed, I have not worked for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Manokwari since August 1994. In addition, I have checked with WWF Manokwari, and it appears that no member of staff there has talked to a reporter regarding this issue.

Whilst I applaud your newspaper's support for environmental issues, I would be very grateful if you could check your source of information, which in this case is obviously unreliable. Apparently my name has also been used erroneously in a story on giant clams in Teluk Cenderawasih (date unknown), perhaps this story also has the same source?

According to Beehler's Birds of New Guinea, there are 43 species of Birds-of-Paradise, distributed from Maluku eastwards to eastern Australia, perhaps 26 of which occur in Irian Jaya province.

DUNCAN NEVILLE

Jakarta

Note: Thank you for the correction and the additional information. We picked up the story from Antara News Agency.

-- Editor