A total of 150 illegally-held bird eggs were seized in Portugal last year, according to the Institute for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity (ICNB).
The eggs, belonging to species such as parrots, toucans and macaws, were being smuggled into Portugal from South America by plane .Apprehensions occurred during six separate incidents and one third of the hatchlings died.
Some of the animals were on the endangered species list and would trade for between €500 and €70,000 per bird, according to an ICBN spokesman, who added that the eggs seized “do not even account for 10% of the birds smuggled into the country”. Portugal is one of the main gateways into Europe for bird smugglers from South America due to the many flights from Brazil.
