Chinese fined for scarlet ibis

A Chinese restaurant manager, a Chinese cook and a Trinidadian handy man, who were held with a young scarlet ibis, said they did not intend to break the law, but found the bird, which was already dead.

They told a magistrate this morning, the young ibis was brown in colour, not scarlet, and they did not know it was the national bird.

They were each fined $800 for being in possession of the ibis, and were given two weeks to pay.

The three - Jiang Hui Feng, 30, Jin Feng Feng, and Alion Ramkhalawan, 55, appeared before Port of Spain Magistrate Sanara Toon-McQuilkin in the Third Court where they pleaded guilty.

The three were arrested during a roadblock in El Socorro on Saturday.

The carcass of the protected bird, and the cardboard box in which it was found, were tendered into evidence after the three pleaded guilty.

They were charged by Game Warden II Richard Ramlogan and Game Warden I Nicholas Leith.