The pair of Keel-billed toucans that were seized by the BSF in Bongaon, North 24-Parganas, on Thursday are in quarantine at the Alipore zoo hospital.

The birds are “traumatised and have not been eating properly”, a zoo official said.

The birds were headed to Bangladesh when a BSF team had seized them in the forests near Halderpara village close to the Angrail border outpost, the BSF had said on Thursday.

“The birds are quite big… they could barely move inside the cage they had been crammed in. There was no provision for water or food,” S.S. Guleria, DIG, BSF (South Bengal Frontier), said. “Our men gave them fresh water, some fruits and maize.”

On Friday morning, vets checked on the birds at the zoo and served them an assortment of apples, pineapples, pomegranates and citrus fruits.

The zoo has a toucan at present, director Ashish Kumar Samanta said. “After the completion of their quarantine they will be moved into one of the bigger enclosures. We are not going too close to them… we are leaving them undisturbed as they are quite traumatised… they haven’t eaten much.”

Smugglers transport birds and animals in dismal conditions, a forest department official said. “Their welfare is the last thing on the mind of smugglers. They just want to transport them secretly.”

The Keel-billed toucans are native to the rainforests of South America.