91av

THE pet trade is driving parrots to extinction. And Europe and Asia are to
blame for not implementing laws that could stop the import of illegally poached
exotic birds. So say an international team of researchers who have collected the
first hard evidence of the extent of the illegal trade.

Parrots are among the most endangered birds鈥攏early one third of species
native to the neotropics are considered at risk of global extinction. While
habitat loss is behind the decline of many species, the new findings suggest
poaching may be as big a threat.

鈥淲e鈥檝e really had very little handle on what is going on with the illegal
trade,鈥� says Steve Beissinger, of the University of California, Berkeley. 鈥淭his
study gives us some feeling for what the levels of poaching are and which
species are most affected. For some the rate is low, but for some of the larger
and more valuable species it鈥檚 startlingly high.鈥�

Biologists Timothy Wright of the University of Maryland at College Park and
Catherine Toft of the University of California in Davis led a team which
analysed data from 23 separate studies into parrot nesting conducted over the
past 20 years. Together, the studies documented the success or failure of 4200
nesting attempts by New World parrots.

Across all the studies, poachers ruined 30 per cent of nests. Four species,
including the Yellow-crowned Amazon, lost more than 70 per cent of their
nests.

Usually, says Toft, the cause of nest failure was unambiguous. 鈥淗umans leave
distinctive evidence of their work,鈥� she says. 鈥淭rees are climbed with ladders
and spikes, and nest cavities are destroyed with a machete. This kind of
evidence usually rules out other possible predators.鈥�

Beissinger has also produced a separate report, due for publication later
this year, on the legal export of parrots as regulated by the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). He found that 1.2 million
parrots were legally exported from 1991 to 1996, with most originating in
Central and South America.

In the US, the 1992 Wild Bird Conservation Act bans the import of
CITES-listed birds. But there are no equivalent laws in Europe and Asia, which
have now become the biggest markets for wild parrots. This legal trade provides
a smokescreen behind which illegal poachers operate. 鈥淭he legal and illegal
trades thrive together,鈥� says Toft. 鈥淭he markets in Europe and Asia remain
辞辫别苍.鈥�

Mike Reynolds, director of the World Parrot Trust in Britain, says the new
data will help to reinvigorate efforts in Europe to impose tighter restrictions
on the import of threatened parrot species. But Benny Gallaway, president of the
American Federation of Aviculture, says a regulated, sustainable harvest of
birds may be a better solution.

Gallaway also questions whether the new study really provides evidence that
poaching is as widespread as the researchers claim. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen hyperbole after
hyperbole presented by the conservation groups, which only alienates many of the
people interested in the conservation of birds.鈥�