Firefighters hand over the rescued oriental pied hornbill to SFC personnel.
MIRI (July 7): Firefighters from the Miri fire station today rescued an oriental pied hornbill, which had somehow gotten itself trapped in an antique jar for what is believed to be several weeks.
The jar was located at government flats in Bakam, here.
A flat resident, Freddy Lian, said he found the hornbill in the antique jar four weeks ago, but thought it might be nesting there with eggs.
“I tried to free it from the pot, but each time, it tried to peck me. So, I decided to leave it there.
“But when I went to check on it again today, I found that it was still trapped inside so I decided to call Bomba (Fire and Rescue Department) for assistance,” he said.
In a statement, the department said it took nearly an hour to remove the hornbill from the jar.
After the rescue, the hornbill was immediately handed over to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) for further action.
In Sarawak, hornbills are a totally protected species under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance (1998).
Anyone found to keep one as a pet; or kill, hunt, capture, sell, trade, or disturb them; or those possessing any recognisable parts of these animals can be sentenced to two years in prison and fined RM25,000 upon conviction.