16 



have received permits to breed birds on a commercial level. I would 

 point out that we have a lot of hobbyists that do that as well, but 

 there seems to be a increased effort since the market is there now. 

 So I would argue that we haven't hurt the captive breeder. We 

 have helped them out. 



In conclusion, I would like to say that New Jersey believes that 

 the Wild Bird Conservation Act is on target and that the regula- 

 tions are fair and seem to meet the objectives. We believe that con- 

 trol of export and import of wildlife is best left at the Federal level. 

 We have had a longstanding and good relationship with the U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service and we hope that with the full implemen- 

 tation of the Act and the regulations that we can go back and look 

 at our regulations and bring them into line so that the consumer 

 will have a standard regulatory framework in which to conduct 

 business or their hobby. Thank you very much. 



[Statement of Lawrence Herrighty may be found at end of hear- 

 ing.] 



Mr. Saxton. Thank you very much. Mr. Leape. 



STATEMENT OF JAMES P. LEAPE, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, 

 WORLD WILDLIFE FUND 



Mr. Leape. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Jim Leape, Senior 

 Vice President and head of the conservation programs for World 

 Wildlife Fund. In the late '70's and early '80's, many of us became 

 concerned that the pet trade in wild birds was devastating wild 

 populations around the world, especially in the tropics. The exist- 

 ing mechanisms of international law, in particular the Convention 

 on International Trade in Endangered Species, known as CITES, 

 provided some protection for birds, but not enough. Those protec- 

 tions are too easily eluded by fraudulent permits or defeated simply 

 by the lack of capacity in exporting countries to assess and manage 

 their own wild populations. 



It is for that reason that in 1988 WWF convened the Cooperative 

 Working Group on Bird Trade to try and come up with better pro- 

 tections for wild populations. That group brought together most of 

 the organizations that are represented here today. In fact. Dr. 

 Telecky and I, and Gary Lilienthal, Marshall Meyers and Susan 

 Clubb on the next panel, all spent many hours in windowless 

 rooms trying to hash out the issues that are reflected in this bill 

 and in today's hearing. And I think those discussions can at least 

 fairly be said to have laid the groundwork for this Act. 



I think we can all agree that the Wild Bird Conservation Act has 

 had an immediate and dramatic impact on the bird trade and a 

 positive impact on wild populations. The data show that legal im- 

 ports of birds into the U.S. have fallen from nearly half a million 

 three years ago to only about 100,000 last year. And so already I 

 think we can say the Act has been a success. Fish and Wildlife 

 Service has moved promptly to implement some provisions of the 

 Act, most importantly, allowing the import of species that are wide- 

 ly bred in captivity and not traded from wild populations, a list of 

 45 species that are therefore allowed for import, and also exemp- 

 tions for imports for zoos, research and cooperative breeding pro- 

 grams and birds that are already personal pets. 



