Turkey: Attempt to seize exotic birds ends in disaster

Officials of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks on Tuesday conducted a raid in Turkey's southern province of Antalya after receiving information that some exotic birds were kept in cages and illegally sold at a hotel.

After a quick inspection of the place, where the officials saw the birds in cages, they notified the hotel's manager that they would take the birds away. The manager Hikmet Ozturk objected, saying that he had acquired the wild animals legally, that he had invoices documenting the purchases, and that he did not trade them.

The quarrel between the officials and the manager turned into a scuffle, and while one of the officials wrestled to access one of the cages, allegedly with a fish scoop net, and get hold of a cockatiel, he accidentally killed the animal.

Upon the bird's demise, the scuffle grew into a full fight with several hotel employees joining in.

That was when three Atlantic canaries escaped from an open cage, only to find themselves caught by a cat. They were instantly killed.

The manager later said that when the canaries were killed by the cat, one of the officials sneered and told him, "This is the law of nature, it's only natural that the cat eats them."

The sides filed complaints against each other after the incident.