Wild Pets and Laboratory Animals: Birds: Page 4 Endangered Species Handbook

Trade

Wild Pets and Laboratory Animals: Birds: Page 4

About 60 wild-caught Spix's Macaws are in captivity (BI 2000), and they could provide additional vital genes and experience for reestablishment of the species. Most of these are captive-bred, and may be inbred because they descend from only ten wild macaws (da Re 1995). Undoubtedly, many more Spix's Macaws are held in unknown locations by private collectors who purchased these smuggled birds. This species' habitat of gallery forests near the Sao Francisco River has become degraded by tree cutting and livestock overgrazing, preventing the growth of young trees (da Re 1995). Only 30 square kilometers of this gallery forest remains in three fragments (BI 2000). Although the remaining wild birds are being guarded by rangers, no reserve has been established. The smuggling of these birds continues. In April 1995, three Spix's Macaws that had been illegally captured in prior years were confiscated in Chile as they were being smuggled to Russia, according to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). The Costa Rican representative of WSPA flew with the birds to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where they were placed in the zoo with others of this species. The Spix's Macaw is an extreme example of the avid pursuit of rare birds by aviculturists--and even zoos--in defiance of all national and international protective legislation. Some of the individuals who obtained these birds illegally have refused to donate their birds to breeding projects, even though the species' status could not be more precarious. Other Spix's Macaws are possessed in secret, and owners have not stepped forward to allow their birds to be part of a cooperative breeding program.

These cases represent the tip of the iceberg of birds that have been threatened by the cage bird trade. Many island species have been endangered by this trade. Amazon parrots from Caribbean islands are among the most coveted of birds. The magnificent Imperial Amazon (Amazona imperialis), a highly endangered endemic from Dominica, has iridescent purple and green feathers, making it one of the most beautiful of parrots. Smugglers have paid as much as $50,000 for a single Imperial Amazon, which now number only about 300 birds in the wild. Fortunately, it is finally increasing, and a new national park protects a portion of this endangered bird's population (BI 2000). The St. Vincent Amazon (Amazona guildingii), of the island of St. Vincent, is the most numerous of the endangered Caribbean amazons, numbering about 800 birds as of 1994 (BI 2000). The rarest is the Puerto Rican Amazon (Amazona vittata), which declined from a population of 2,000 in the 1930s to about 41 birds in 1993, in large part due to illegal capture for the pet trade (Collar et al. 1994). It numbered 44 birds in the wild and 87 in captivity in 1996 (BI 2000). Once reduced to small numbers, many parrot species, like the Puerto Rican Amazon, do not recover. This parrot's population has not increased substantially in spite of legal protection for almost a century and an intensive conservation program. There is still a demand for Caribbean parrots, with collectors offering $20,000 or more per bird for smuggled specimens. In the book, The Parrots of Luqillo: Natural History and Conservation of the Puerto Rican Parrot (Snyder et al. 1987), the authors state: "Clearly, the high price that some aviculturists are willing to pay for rare parrots is one of the most serious threats to survival faced by the West Indian Amazona. It is ironic that the rationalization often used by such individuals for obtaining rare species is that they hope to 'save' them from extinction by captive propagation" (Snyder et al. 1987).

For one Caribbean parrot, the future is brighter. A very successful conservation program is bringing the St. Lucia Amazon (Amazona versicolor), endemic to the island of St. Lucia, back from near-extinction. This parrot was in steep decline until a biologist, Paul Butler, working for RARE Center for Tropical Bird Conservation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, began a long term project to prevent its extinction. From 150 birds in 1976, the population has risen to 200 to 250 birds in 1990 (Butler 1992), to 300 to 350 in 1996 (BI 2000). The program educated children in grade schools using songs, parrot costumes and puppets, and enlisted the help of many local businesses to use the bird as their logo or in their ads. In 1979, the St. Lucia Amazon was named the country’s official bird (Butler 1992). Posters and billboards illustrating St. Lucia Amazons were put up in public places throughout the island, and the program has sought to identify the species with national pride. Its protection is now a concern of most members of the public, and this enthusiasm to protect "their" parrot has made illegal capture and shooting almost unknown (Butler 1992). Paul Butler's work has been so successful that he carried his program to St. Vincent to protect its native parrot, and to other islands for programs conserving their native birds (Butler 1992). The National Audubon Society's film, “Caribbean Cool,” about Butler's work on St. Lucia, shows the beautiful St. Lucia Amazon and programs in schools in the Caribbean region (see Video, Activism and Attitudes).