Oven-Ready Owls
The first of the two raids—carried out by the country's Department of Wildlife and National Parks—took place on November 4 in the town of Muar on the southern tip of Malaysia.
In a freezer and storage room, agents found 796 barn owls, 95 spotted wood-owls, 14 buffy fish-owls, 8 barred eagle-owls, and 4 brown wood-owls.
The owls, smaller than chickens, had been frozen. Their feathers had been removed, but their heads and feet were intact—a sign that the owls were to be sold as food.
"I've heard of owls being used for superstition and in traditional medicine, but I've never heard of anybody eating them," said Colin Poole, director of the Asia program for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
"There must be some market specifically for owls."
The haul also included live monitor lizards and live juvenile wild pigs. Only parts were found from other animals: wild pig, Malayan porcupine, reticulated python, Malayan pangolin, greater mouse deer, and sun bear"
Some of the 900 owls seized in a November 4, 2008, raid in Malaysia are shown as they were found, plucked and plastic wrapped—signs they were intended as food.
The owl raid was followed three days later by a seizure that yielded 7,000 live monitor lizards. The sizes of both hauls indicate that illegal-wildlife traders in Southeast Asia are becoming more organized, experts say.
Sun Bear