18 



a success. We ought to leave it untouched and move forward with 

 implementation. Thank you. 



[Statement of James P. Leape may be found at end of hearing.] 



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



Dr. Telecky. 



STATEMENT OF TERESA M. TELECKY, Ph.D., DIRECTOR, WILD- 

 LIFE TRADE PROGRAM, THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE 

 UNITED STATES 



Dr. Telecky. Good morning, Mr. Chairman. I am Teresa 

 Telecky, Director of the Wildlife Trade Program for the Humane 

 Society of the United States, and I would like to thank you for this 

 opportunity to present testimony today on the Wild Bird Conserva- 

 tion Act on behalf of my organization and seven other animal pro- 

 tection and conservation organizations. 



Mr. Chairman, there is a bird called the Spix's macaw. It is a 

 beautiful, long-tailed, bright blue parrot whose natural home is the 

 dry woodland of Northeastern Brazil. Spix's macaw is a famous 

 bird because of the tragedy that has befallen it. Mr. Chairman, 

 there is only one Spix's macaw surviving in the wild. What caused 

 the near extinction of Spix's macaw is a price tag that hangs 

 around the neck even of this last bird. Of course, Brazil banned the 

 collection of this bird long ago, but collectors were willing to buy 

 illegal birds and smugglers were willing to deliver the goods for a 

 price. The last wild bird is being guarded from trappers who are 

 relentless in their attempts to capture it. 



For my organization and many others, what happened to Spix's 

 macaw provides a dramatic example of the damage that has been 

 caused by the trade in wild birds. It also provides an example of 

 the lengths to which bird collectors will go in order to possess rare 

 and valuable birds. And that is why on the third anniversary of the 

 passage of the Wild Bird Conservation Act we implore Congress to 

 reauthorize the Act without any changes that would make it easier 

 for wild birds to be imported. 



Mr. Chairman, the Wild Bird Conservation Act, although not 

 even yet fully implemented, has already demonstrated success in 

 the conservation of wild birds. The Act has reduced the number of 

 birds imported to the U.S. from roughly half a million per year be- 

 fore the passage of the Act to only about 80,000 in 1994. The Act 

 has allowed the American market for pet birds to shift to captive- 

 bred birds, which make more appropriate pets than wild-caught 

 birds anyway. In fact, gross retail sales of pet birds and pet bird 

 products have almost doubled since passage of the Act. Reports 

 from field biologists studying wild parrots indicate that the Act has 

 provided much needed relief from trapping pressure on these spe- 

 cies. And finally, since passage of the Act, at least an estimated 3 

 million birds have been spared the cruel death commonly encoun- 

 tered in the wild bird trade in which only 20 percent of birds col- 

 lected from the wild make it to market. 



Mr. Chairman, the Wild Bird Conservation Act has accomplished 

 what Congress intended and it deserves to be reauthorized without 

 any changes, changes that might diminish its success. The Wild 

 Bird Conservation Act contains carefully crafted language that in 

 fact required over six years of negotiation among organizations 



