SUMATRA, Indonesia — Armed with a machete, some sticky gum and a recording of birdsong on his phone, “Peni” makes his way into the forest. He’s searching for songbirds in the Sumatran jungle, specifically the white-rumped shama (Copsychus malabaricus), known locally as murai batu. The popularity of murai batu has boomed in the past decade due to its complex song and striking looks. In Java, keeping caged birds is more than a hobby — it’s deeply cultural, indicating status and maintaining a connection to nature. The booming competition circuit has transformed this traditional pastime into a lucrative industry, with prizes such as cars and large sums of cash up for grabs. A champion murai batu can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. Murai batu is a widespread species, its natural range reaching from India to Papua New Guinea. However, within Indonesia and other countries with a cage-bird tradition, the species faces serious decline. Conservationists say some subspecies within Indonesia have been driven to extinction, while many forests on Java, Indonesia’s most populated island, are believed to be largely devoid of murai batu, pushing the search for new birds to other parts of Indonesia. Until 2018, murai batu was listed as a protected species under Indonesian law. However, it was removed after lobbying from breeder associations, a decision that critics say has made enforcement difficult at a time when murai batu were already under pressure from poaching and habitat loss. For poachers like Peni, catching murai batu once offered a…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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