An official with the Ministry of Environment, Erwin Tjikuua, told The Namibian that a man, believed to be an Angolan, crossed the border into Namibia with a cage containing the five parrots.

Tjikuua said the matter was reported to the Police.

However, the suspect escaped across the border while being questioned, leaving the parrots behind.

The parrots were transported to the Narrec animal rehabilitation centre near Windhoek on Wednesday.

Two of them did not survive the trip, and the other three are in a bad condition.

Normally, a healthy Rueppel's parrot weighs between 110 and 130 grams, but these three only weighed 80 grams when they arrived at Narrec, the centre's Liz Komen told The Namibian.

"They are being fed to increase their body condition and deal with the stress that they have been subjected to," said Komen.

Once their health is restored, she said, the Ministry of Environment would decide where to release them.

Rueppel's parrots are endemic to Namibia and Angola.

They live on the open savannah or in dry woodland.

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