The rescued birds
The rescued birdsCivil Adminstration

Officials from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, together with special police forces, led an operation to rescue birds of an endangered species that had been illegally trapped and imprisoned in a storage facility on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The operation followed several weeks of intelligence investigations in a different area, tracking an Arab from the village of Izriya who trapped the birds illegally. On Wednesday, special police forces along with officials from the Civil Administration raided a storage facility near the capital, and succeeded in seizing 24 finches.

The suspect was detained for interrogation.

The operation was part of a coordinated effort recently undertaken between the Nature and Parks Authority and the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria to deal with the phenomenon of illegal possession of endangered species.

Guy Cohen, head of environmental protection issues in the Civil Administration, said, “Being in possession of birds of an endangered species is against the law and we regard such incidents with the utmost gravity. I would like to thank the special police forces who joined us in this operation. The Civil Administration along with the Nature and Parks Authority will continue to do everything in their power to fight against this phenomenon and prevent lawbreakers from causing harm to rare birds in Judea and Samaria.”