Papua's Bird of Paradise under threat, says WWF

Environmental group World Wildlife Fund is warning that the Bird of Paradise is at threat, particularly in Indonesia's Papua province.

The group says the bird is considered sacred by Papuan tribes but it is increasingly becoming the target of illegal trading, taxidermy and poaching.

It is advocating an eco-tourism approach, including bird watching, to help conserve the bird's population and provide value ot local communities.

WWF spokesperson in Papua, Andhiani Kumalasari, said efforts must be made to save the bird before it's too late.

"We must conserve the birds of paradise so the next generation - your children, your grandchildren, can still look directly [at] or find the birds of paradise in the forest - not in a book or on the internet or a picture - or just a story from their parents or grandparents or something like that."

Andhiani Kumalasari says the bird's habitat, native forests, must also be protected if it is to survive.