A St James man’s aim to make quick money from 10 parrots he had stolen from a coop did not go as planned, after he was caught red-handed selling the birds.

But the case has raised eyebrows within the wildlife protection community as it was not brought to their attention to determine whether the complainant and the confessed thief are in breach of The Wild Life Protection Act.

Ricardo Deeble, the man who stole the parrots, appeared in the St James Parish Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to simple larceny.

The court was told that on February 22 the complainant left his Belview Heights home at 6:00 am for work. When he returned home he noticed that the lock to the coop had been broken, so he called the police.

The parrots, the court heard, were being sold to a poultry farmer in the Norwood area at the time.

Deeble was accosted at the bird farm. He denied stealing the birds and claimed to be a farmer himself.

However, the police went to his house and discovered that he did not raise birds. Deeble then admitted to stealing them.

The complainant identified his missing birds, and seven were recovered. Deeble admitted to selling two for $20,000 and said one flew away.

When cautioned, Deeble reportedly said, “Mi a go court and go plead guilty yaa.”

After learning that Deeble has previous convictions for robbery, simple larceny, and malicious destruction of property, Parish Judge Sasha-Marie Smith-Ashley ordered a social enquiry report, postponed sentencing until April 20 and remanded him.

At that moment, the complainant stated that the birds were worth $300,000 and that he wanted restitution.

Deeble told the court that he was willing to make restitution and that he had $33,000 to begin the process.

“Mi willing fi pay back di money, Your honour…Mi and him talk already,” Deeble said before he was escorted to the holding area.

On Saturday, president of BirdLife Jamaica Damion Whyte said he was not aware of this case but expressed surprise that the matter was tried without the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) being brought in to determine whether the birds are those determined to be endangered.

“What needed to have been done was to find out whether these parrots are indigenous to Jamaica or if they are from abroad and are therefore protected under CITES,” he said.

CITES — the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — is an international agreement between governments designed to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.

Jamaica became a party to the CITES on June 22, 1997 and enacted the Endangered Species (Protection, Conservation and Regulation of Trade) Act in April 1, 2000.

The matter comes just over a month after the Jamaica Observer reported that three species of parrots which are indigenous to Jamaica are being snatched from their natural habitat, illegally, by unscrupulous people and sold for between $8,000 and $10,000 each to bird lovers.

The endangered yellow-billed parrot, the black-billed parrot, and the Jamaican parakeet (otherwise known as the olive-throated parakeet) are protected by law and it is illegal to capture, sell, and have them as pets without a permit.

However, this crime has been ongoing for a number of years, and in recent times sellers have become even more barefaced, advertising the endangered birds for sale on social media platforms, along with videos of the captured animals.

The sellers, who have also been seen on the roads, particularly in St Ann, displaying the captured birds to motorists, appear not to be worried about being accosted by the police or NEPA enforcement officers.

At the time, NEPA told the Sunday Observer that it had received reports about the illegal activity, but its ongoing investigations suggest that the practice is not widespread.

The agency said it has been collaborating with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to deter the perpetrators, and that it has ongoing public education campaigns to educate people that these birds are protected and it is illegal to have them.

The once wild, carefree birds, which are now domesticated, are sometimes proferred on sticks or in small cages on the roadside as their “handlers” show them off to customers who may not know that it is illegal to have native parrots as pets.

Whyte, who is also an environmentalist, had said the practice not only endangers the existence of parrots, but disrupts the important roles that they play in the survival of other species in the wild, including breaking down hard seeds, nuts, and fruits so other animals can feed. The parrots also disperse seeds which contribute to the growth of plants and trees.

He had told the Sunday Observer that sellers who post the endangered parrots on social media platforms have been employing cruel means of capturing the birds, which lead to them being injured or result in their death.

“Because some of the guys know that they live in the trees, they might chop down some of these trees and go in the nests to get the babies and by doing that you kill the trees, and some of the babies don’t survive. Another method is to put gum on the trees and the birds stick to it, then they catch them. But by doing that, some of them damage themselves, their feet get broken or their feathers get damaged or some of them die up there,” he said.

Whyte had also told the Sunday Observer that only official entities which see to the rescue, rehabilitation, and conservation of wildlife in Jamaica, such as the Hope Zoo and the Wendy Ann Lee-operated Seven Oaks Sanctuary for Wildlife (SOS-Wildlife), have permits from NEPA to have the saved native parrots in their care.