The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) is speeding up the registration of people breeding the red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), a protected bird popular with unrfegistered breeders.
The red-whiskered bulbul is listed as protected wildlife species No 550 under the 2003 ministerial regulation specifying which species are protected from poaching and which can be kept without a permit, said Athapol Charoenshunsa, acting director-general of the DNP.
Even though the bird is considered a protected species, many were being kept illegally by unregistered breeders, he said.
Due to the strict and lengthy process of applying for a permit, only 11,466 people had registered to date.
The actual number of breeders was far higher than the records show, he said, citing figures supplied by a club of red-whiskered bulbul breeders.
So, the DNP had agreed to make the process less complicated and more convenient, both for breeders and pet lovers, Mr Athapol said. The decision would help protect the red-whiskered bulbul in the wild from hunters, he said.
The bird is about 20 centimetres in length. It has brown upper-parts and whitish underparts with buff flanks and a dark spur running onto the breast at shoulder level. It has a tall pointed black crest and a red face patch. The tail is long and brown with white terminal feather tips.