Customs officials at Moscow's Domodedovo International Airport have seized a shipment of 591 exotic birds, the TASS news agency reported Tuesday.
A number of the birds are rare species which are covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, according to the Moscow Environmental Resources Management department.
Among the caged birds, which were in transit from Kyrgyzstan, were African gray parrots, whose hatchlings sell for as much as 100,000 rubles ($1,500) in Moscow. Other species included budgerigars, finches, and canaries. The birds have been taken to an animal shelter in the Moscow region.
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