20 



[Statement of Teresa M. Telecky may be found at end of hear- 

 ing.] 

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



STATEMENT OF STEVEN R. BEISSINGER, ASSOCIATE PROFES- 

 SOR OF ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AND CURA- 

 TOR OF ORNITHOLOGY, SCHOOL OF FORESTRY AND ENVI- 

 RONMENTAL STUDIES, YALE UNIVERSITY 



Dr. Beissinger, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommit- 

 tee, thank you for the opportunity to address this hearing, I am a 

 professor in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies 

 and a Curator of Ornithology at the Peabody Museum. I would like 

 to testify today on behalf of eight organizations of professional orni- 

 thologists who study birds. My testimony consists of five consensus 

 recommendations for you about the Act. 



First, reauthorize the Exotic Bird Conservation Act. Until the 

 passage of the Act, wild birds were being decimated. You have 

 heard the stories. You have heard how the trade was ineffectively 

 regulated by national or international regulations that were sup- 

 posed to ensure that trapping for trade was sustainable. It did not. 

 It caused quite a large number of species declines and was largely 

 ineffective. 



Captive breeding was the major source of individuals in the trade 

 for only a handful of species. Most other birds in the trade were 

 coming from the wild. The numbers of wild-caught birds were inde- 

 fensible. The sale had to be stopped before more species were driv- 

 en to the situation of the Spix's macaw. The Act accomplished this 

 goal and the need for it remains today. Populations of most species 

 have been severely depleted by decades of overharvesting and re- 

 quire several generations or probably ten to 20 years for them to 

 begin to recover. 



The second point I would like to make is that captive populations 

 do not conserve endangered species in the wild. Captive breeding 

 to recover endangered species requires birds to be introduced to the 

 wild at the earliest possible opportunity. Disease risks must be 

 minimized by placing birds in single-species facilities, idesdly with- 

 in their native range to minimize the exposure to and introduction 

 of exotic diseases to the wild. Special care must be taken to slow 

 domestification of birds before they become unlikely to successfully 

 survive when reintroduced. All captive breeding programs must 

 also be fully integrated with field efforts to protect habitats and 

 correct the factors that originally caused the populations to decline. 



Avicultural collections do not meet these requirements. Birds are 

 usually kept in close proximity to many other species, so they are 

 high disease risks to reintroduce. Furthermore, aviculturists select 

 birds to become domesticated. Promotion of captive breeding as 

 conservation by aviculturists is sometimes a rationalization for 

 keeping exotic birds in captivity in private collections. This excuse 

 was used to justify illegal activities by convicted cockatoo smug- 

 glers last summer. 



My third recommendation is that captive breeders do not need 

 continued access to new stocks. Only limited genetic diversity is re- 

 quired for avicultural collections not used for reintroduction to the 

 wild. Fifty to 75 birds per species will capture the genetic diversity 



