Petition Secretary of the Interior to Stop Caged Bird Trade
Washington, DC — Today, Connecticut-based advocacy group Friends of Animals, together with the environmental clinic at Denver University’s Sturm College of Law, petitioned the Secretary of the Interior to domestically and internationally protect tropical birds most wanted by pet traders.
“Listing these birds under the U.S. Endangered Species Act,” said DU Environmental Law Clinic director Jay Tutchton, “will head off poachers and collectors, increase funding and attention for research and habitat protection, and draw scrutiny to projects proposed by U.S. government and lending agencies worldwide.”
Named in the Petition are Hyacinth macaws, Blue-throated and Blue-headed macaws, Military macaws, Grey-cheeked parakeets, Yellow-billed parrots, Red-crowned parrots, Thick-billed parrots, Crimson shining parrots, Great green macaws and Scarlet macaws as well as Philippine, White, and Yellow-crested cockatoos.
Lee Hall, legal director for Friends of Animals, said, “The pet trade threatens the continued survival as well as the freedom of these birds, beings who must also cope on habitat desired by ranchers and energy developers. The U.S. market for these birds must be closed.”
Notwithstanding the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and U.S. law, traders can obtain many of these birds with permits. Trappers may set snares on perches, use ladders to raid nests, set the bases of trees afire to flush birds out, and shoot adult birds in the wing to allow capture.
Chicks are especially prized. Collectors will even cut down trees to get to them — killing 60% of the chicks as the trees fall, and depriving birds of future nesting sites. Most surviving birds die in transit between traders.
Said Kay Bond, the Law Clinic attorney who supervises the law students drafting and preparing to litigate the petition, “We expect a positive initial finding on our petition within 90 days, and we hope the Secretary will act before one or more of these communities of birds go extinct due to the pet trade.”
Where they live: Yellow-billed parrots live in the wet limestone forests of Jamaica. Red-crowned parrots live along the northeast Mexican coasts, a population in Veracruz having disappeared. Thick-billed parrots once lived in the southwestern U.S. but are now seen only in Mexico. Military macaws live in fragmented canyon and forest habitat from Mexico to Peru, having disappeared from Argentina. Blue-throated macaws live in Bolivian palm groves; Grey-cheeked parakeets live in coastal areas along the border between Ecuador and Peru. Hyacinth macaws live on the edges of Brazilian palm forests, while blue-headed macaws live in parts of Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia.
Scarlet Macaws are found in pockets throughout Central and South America; only about every two years do they lay two to four eggs. Once widespread throughout Central and South America, Great green macaws are now only found in pockets in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Less than 2500 free-living Great Green macaws are left. In Costa Rica, only 25-35 pairs remain; in Ecuador, they number less than 100 individuals. They’ve been seen bagged for sale in Nicaraguan markets.
Crimson shining parrots live in forests and agricultural lands as well as around human habitation on the islands of Fiji. Yellow-crested and White cockatoos live in Indonesia where they are suffering the effects of the pet trade and habitat destruction. Philippine cockatoos are currently found on only a handful of islands within their historic range.
The Environmental Law Clinical Clinic in the Student Law Office at University of Denver, Sturm College of Law provides free legal representation to environmental and animal-advocacy non-profits, while simultaneously providing a real-world learning experience for the law students who represent these public interest organizations.
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9 Comments
On January 30, 2008, Kim Hannah wrote:
Friends of Animals & Environmental Law Clinic Petition Secretary of the Interior to Stop Caged Bird Trade
I was told to contact Friends of Animals and the Environmental Law Clinic to view the petition and offer support and assistance, how do I go about seeing the petition? How can I help? I have a wide network that can bring much support to this issue.
Thank you,
Kim Hannah
Rescues For Parrots
Nashville, TN
On January 31, 2008, maria Brullo wrote:
I hope to see the day when humans end the exploitation of animals because then, and only then will there be a balanced existence. We should be concerned with maintaining balance in life, not destroying it for profit. What have we evolved to become? I think that animals are better than us. They do not exploit, torture or destroy everything around them. People do that.
Maria Brullo
On January 31, 2008, Cheryl Voss wrote:
Greed and money before life. It really stinks. These beautiful creatures are being caught and sold like merchandise. Stop the unethical practice of caged birds for profit NOW!
On February 3, 2008, Janette Sass wrote:
How about supporting the effort to stop the destruction of the Rain Forests where some of the birds live.
On February 4, 2008, Peggy Frangione wrote:
I think what you guys are tying to do is nuts. First off, CITES highly restricts any bird from being brought into the US. The US already has very stringent laws governing the importation of any CITES bird and US Customs confiscates any birds brought in illegally. Maybe you guys should go to these other countries you state in your proposal that are still allowing trade of these birds - Nicaragua, EU, Asia to name a few. Maybe you should go to these Third World Nations and teach the people from these areas that they are destroying these birds natural habitats and that doing this is causing these precious birds to become extinct. THEY are the ones that are allowing their birds to be trapped and sold. THEY are the ones destroying these birds habitats, nesting areas, and food sources. If THEY do not stop - there will be no wild for the wild parrots to live in. Then there will be no more birds other than the ones people own as pets and breeders. If you outlaw the birds we have in captivity, then there will be NO BIRDS AT ALL! Why don’t you research how the Spix Macaw is extinct in the wild because of hunting and trapping of the birds, destruction of its habitat, and the introduction of the Africanized bee. The only Spix Macaws left are those that were bred in CAPTIVITY!
[Blog editors’ note: It’s the so-called regulation of birds in trade that’s dooming them and that’s because there’s a commercial market. Leaving birds in nature and closing the U.S. market is essential.]
On February 4, 2008, Dave Shishkoff wrote:
Hi Janette,
Friends of Animals is very active in supporting actions to prevent the destruction of rain forests (and all forests!) by advocating veganism. Plant-based foods require significantly less land to grow than raising animals (and the food for those animals.) This, of course, means less land is cleared. Large portions of the Amazon are being cleared for cattle, as well as the soybeans that they’re growing to feed them.
This is an important action each and every one of us can take, which has a profound impact on the environment.
Read more about going vegan in our Vegan Starter Guide (PDF):
http://www.friendsofanimals.org/img/Vegan_Starter_Guide.pdf
And for delicious vegan recipes, check out Dining With Friends:
http://store.friendsofanimals.org/cookbook.html
All the best,
Dave Shishkoff
Canadian Correspondent
Friends of Animals
On February 24, 2008, caroline hughes wrote:
why? Why? Must humans be so cruel. Is it not bad enough that humans pretend to be so much higher than animals practice the most cruel torture on innocent animals
On March 2, 2008, Maya, C.V.T. wrote:
It looks as though I came upon this too late to sign the petition, but I am thrilled that FOA has taken this action.
In shelters and vet clinics I saw the terrible effects of the exotic pet trade, where pet stores sell animals and give the wrong nutritional and care information in order to make it seem like these expensive “products” were low maintenance pets. As a grad student of biology I’m reading about the nasty methods used to catch birds, fish etc for the pet trade.
In addition I am VERY disturbed by the trend of breeding animals in captivity and reintroduction trends by zoos and conservation groups like Audubon (who thinks we should clone endangered species).
These destructive methods are destroying the ecosystem and snowing the public into thinking that it will keep species from going extinct, and creating Frankenspecies that devestate native wildlife populations and tout themselves as conservation groups.
Keep up the good work, FOA. I hope to see many more campaigns like this!
On October 25, 2008, Julie Ann Zserdin wrote:
Why can’t we get laws passed to prohibit raising animals for food?
Or least to limit the amount of animals raised for food?