ARE WILD-CAUGHT BIRD IMPORTS INTO
SOUTHERN AFRICA JUSTIFIABLE?

CALL FOR SUPPORT OF A HALT TO WILD-CAUGHT BIRD
IMPORTS INTO SOUTH AFRICA
According to the UNEP-WCMC CITES Trade Database, over the past 22 years, more than 294 990 wild-caught  parrots have been legally imported from
around Africa and the world into the Republic of South Africa: these include numerous species now endangered due to both legal and illegal trade (e.g.
Amazona, Psittacus and Ara spp.).  This figure represents only a fraction of the wild  birds captured for import into South Africa because it does not include
other wild bird species involved in trade, or those imported illegally for the black market, or those that die before export.  This long-standing practice has
historically been justified along various lines, including free trade, human rights and community-based natural resource management.  These justifications
seem now dubious because the continued import of wild-caught birds a) poses significant risk to these bird species in the wild, b) does not contribute to
sustainable community-based natural resource management, and c) could potentially threaten national biosecurity .  As a continent striving to support
biodiversity conservation and community-based natural resource management, we need a modern and sustainable African solution for the wild-caught bird
trade.  

South Africa is a leader in African environmental policy and governance, biodiversity conservation, and compliance with international environmental norms and
standards, as exemplified by the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107: 1998), the Protected Areas Act (Act 57: 2003) and the Biodiversity Act (Act
10: 2004).  By virtue of provisions of the Biodiversity Act, South Africa implements the strictest protection in Africa to our indigenous species, yet remains the
largest market on the continent for wild-caught birds from other African countries. As exemplified by the declaration of the Kruger National Park as the second
national park in the world in 1898, our leadership in the inauguration of the “peace parks” in Africa, and the initiation of successful conservation projects such
as “Save the Rhino”, South Africa is a pioneer in world conservation and once again needs to be a guiding light and example to other African countries.

However, flying in the face of this reputation, during the 1990’s South Africa was identified as a hub for legal and illegal trade in African wildlife, an image that
needs to be rectified through strong and absolute policy and management changes.  We could possibly take guidance from Australia, who passed the Wildlife
Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act (1982), the United States who passed the Wild Bird Conservation Act (1992), and the European Union who
ended all imports of wild birds into its 27 member states in July this year.

Central to this call is the notion that the wild-caught bird trade in South Africa is motivated and run by profiteering importers. Birds are sometimes bought from
local trappers for as little as US$1 and then sold to SA aviculturalists and pet shops for 50-100 times that price, thus exploiting both the local trapper and the
South African consumer.  One possible reason for these massive mark-ups is the high death -rate of birds before and during import:, however, even after
factoring in this and other costs faced by importers, the mark-up seems excessive.  Re-export from South Africa to other international markets has, in the past,
allegedly been used to “launder” illegally imported birds for legal export to foreign countries.  This continued trade in wild-caught birds is motivated by profit
and not social or environmental responsibility.  Stopping wild-caught bird imports could conceivably result in rapid growth of the South African aviculture
industry, thus creating jobs in South Africa, opening the industry to regulation, and protecting the South African consumer.  Loss of income for the trappers in
source countries could feasibly be offset by the development of rural aviculture, whereby aviaries are set up to be run by local communities who have been
incentivized by market access and profit-sharing with captive-bred bird exporters.  This model is now being successfully pursued in the butterfly industry in rural
areas of Tanzania.  Also, poachers and trappers often have unique insight into the behavioral ecology of target bird species, and thus often make outstanding
birding safari guides, opening the opportunity for ecotourism development in some areas.  This brief discussion of alternatives to dependence on the
unsustainable harvesting of wild-caught birds by rural communities highlights the fact that cessation of this trade would conceivably encourage rural
development and empowerment, as opposed to undermining it.  Issues that need further analysis and understanding include the death rates of birds during
trapping and quarantine, hygiene levels of storage and transport facilities, and suitability of the eventual owners of the birds?  

The 1990s were years of rapid growth in South African aviculture, with ever-increasing imports of wild-caught birds, sales of incubators and higher captive-
breeding success rates for certain species.  The industry has gone through the growth phase noted in the United States between 1959 and 1994, whereby we
have seen a period of advancement of aviculture techniques in certain species, a period of breeding successes in an ever increasing number of taxa, a period
of rapid increase in demand for new exotic species, and a period of massive growth in private collections and the resultant demand for cheap wild-caught birds
(Figure 1).























Moving into the 21st Century the South African aviculture industry has demonstrated that it is ready, with the support of the global avicultural community, to
become self-sufficient and inaugurate a period of constructive contribution to global bird conservation.  This notion is supported by the majority of bird-keepers
and breeders alike, who recognize their current and future role in the conservation of endangered species.  Examples include the Amazona Endangered Parrot
Breeding Centre and the Rare Finch Conservation Group (a registered public benefit organisation).

Biosecurity is of growing concern in all animal husbandry industries, especially commercial and subsistence poultry farming, and we have recently seen both
commercial and subsistence livelihoods in the poultry industries around the European Union, Asia and North Africa threatened by outbreaks of avian influenza.  
To date, South Africa has had no reported incidents of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks seen in other parts of the world in recent years,
but authorities need to be proactive and absolute in their measures to avoid this eventuality.  To date there are no conclusively proven links between the trade
in wild-caught birds and the spread of H5N1 avian influenza. However, in 2005, veterinary and health authorities in the Far East documented H5N1 in common
pet birds such as mynahs, house crows and common magpies in pet bird markets.  In October 2005, wild-caught parrots in international trade died of the H5N1
while in quarantine in the United Kingdom.  All the birds held at the quarantine facility were killed and tested, and UK officials reported that the highly
pathogenic strain was found in two additional birds – if the first bird had died before quarantine these two birds could have entered the United Kingdom cage-
bird market with potentially catastrophic results.  Source countries for wild-caught African Grey and other African parrots have reported the presence of H5N1,
thus opening the risk of pre-export infection and import into South Africa.  By contrast, captive-bred birds can be certified as disease-free because they were
raised in controlled, hygienic environments with adequate biosecurity measures, and can thus be traded responsibly on the local and international market with
little risk of spreading disease.  

South Africa needs to implement absolute controls that are cost effective and leave no room for complicating circumstances.  The continued import of wild-
caught birds is out-dated, unsustainable and unnecessary in the long run.  It is our task to motivate for the cessation of this practice and the development of
management systems that ensure a sustainable local aviculture industry.  The market for the pet bird trade in South Africa should be held to first-world norms
and standards as adopted in Europe and the United States, while rural communities that previously benefitted from the unsustainable trade in wild-caught birds
need to be provided with alternative livelihoods such as rural aviculture and ecotourism development.   

We, at the World Parrot Trust, are preparing to host a workshop on the wild-caught bird imports into South Africa and would appreciate any
submissions to present or notification of your desire to participate.

    Which of the following would you support?
    A.  Outright halt in the wild-caught bird imports into South Africa;
    B.  Temporary moratorium and derivation of management systems;
    C.  Continued trade and derivation of management systems; or
    D.  No action and continued monitoring.
Website for AfricaSkyBlue Wildlife Research Foundation
FACILITATING WILDLIFE RESEARCH IN AFRICA'S WILD PLACES since 2003
Updated:  3/04/2010
Administrator:  Dr. Steve Boyes  BScFor (NatCon) MEnvDev(PAM) PhD Zoology
DST/NRF Centre of Excellence Postdoctoral Fellow: Percy FitzPatrick Institute
University of Cape Town, South Africa
E-mail:  boyes@africaskyblue.org
          steve.boyes@bigfig.com
          rs.boyes@uct.ac.za