Wildlife Enforcement Officers of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development arrested a woman after a search yielded 72 heads of live Palawan Hill Mynahs (Gracula religiosa palawanensis) in her home in Barangay Dumangueña, Narra, Palawan on the 14th of March 2014.
According to the report, the suspect, Nelia Guadalupe, also known as “Inday”, has a history of collecting endangered wildlife and transporting them to buyers in Metro Manila to be sold in the illegal wildlife market.
Guadalupe was arrested and the birds were confiscated following surveillance of the enforcement team. She was charged with violation of Sec 27 (f) (collecting, hunting or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives) of RA 9147 or the Wildlife Act.
The birds are now under the care of the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center for rehabilitation. Most of them are hatchlings and fledglings and would need to be cared for by experts before they can be released back into the wild.
The Palawan Hill Mynah is classified as endangered as per the 2010 Updated List of Threatened Terrestrial and Marine Wildlife in Palawan and their Categories pursuant to RA 9147 – PCSD Resolution No. 10-413.