Government doesn't know if exported rare birds are still in German facility, Senate hears

Australian officials have not visited the centre where hundreds of rare and endangered birds were sent

The federal environment department does not know if hundreds of rare and endangered Australian birds exported to a German organisation headed by a convicted kidnapper and extortionist are still at the group's facility in Brandenburg.

Department officials told Senate estimates on Monday night their wildlife compliance unit was investigating after Guardian Australia reported the government had been warned birds sent to the Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) could be sold to collectors at a huge profit.