67 



improper treatment and the stress of captivity/ Those that survive are packed into crates, 

 loaded along with other cargo into the holds of airplanes, and transported to consuming 

 nations. At the time of export, many of the birds already suffer from dehydration, starvation, 

 heat exhaustion and injury. The added effects of overcrowding, inadequate ventilation, 

 temperature extremes, stress and disease, lead to significant levels of transit mortality. For 

 example, in just a one-year period before implementation of the WBCA, seven separate 

 shipments imported into the United States had more than 1,000 birds dead on arrival.' 



For birds entering the United States, a 30 day quarantine period is required, during which 

 mortalities continue to rise. In many of these privately owned facilities, overcrowded and 

 unsanitary conditions are prevalent. Because birds from different countries are quarantined 

 simultaneously, disease is sometimes rampant. Between 14-20% of the birds imported into the 

 United States during the past decade died en route or during quarantine. To compensate for 

 this mortality, even greater numbers are removed from the wild to meet consumer demands. 



Tragically, the destructiveness of this trade is not limited to the large numbers of wild birds 

 captured for export. Indiscriminate methods of capture result in suffering and mortality of 

 non-target species. Many of these are unsuitable for trade and are simply discarded. The 

 removal of chicks from nest cavities often involves the use of an ax or machete to access the 

 young, exacerbating problems of habitat destruction. For example, a 1991 report by 

 Argentinean scientist Dr. Enrique Bucher revealed that roughly 100,000 trees were damaged or 

 destroyed between 1981 and 1989, as a direct result of the legal collection of the blue-fronted 

 amazon parrot for commercial trade. This method of collection left more than 95% of the 

 nest sites unusable for future nesting.' The WBCA is now providing a critical resting period 

 for this species, whose primary destination was the United States pet market. 



Background-A Failure of Regulation and Control 



After nearly twenty years of attempting to regulate the commercial trade in exotic wild birds 

 prior to the WBCA, neither federal laws nor international controls were effective in halting the 

 decline of wild populations due to trade, or in preventing widespread illegalities. 



The dire lack of basic biological data for the majority of traded species prevents listing under 

 the United States Endangered Species Act. Because disguising the true origin of illegally 

 imported birds is common practice, it is almost impossible to adequately enforce the United 

 States Lacey Act. This law forbids imports of birds taken illegally in their range countries. 

 The majority of nations, including the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Honduras, 

 Zimbabwe, Australia and India, have domestic laws prohibiting the export of native birds for 



^ Nilsson. Greta. 1 981 . Bird Business : A Study of the Commercial Cage Bird Trade . Animal Welfare 

 Institute: Washington, D.C. 



^ Nilsson, Greta. 1992. Importation of Birds into the United States in 1989 . Defenders of Wildlife: 

 Washington, D.C. 



' Bucher, E.H. Sustainable Harvesting of Parrots for Conservation. 1992. New World Parrots in Crisis : 

 Solutions from Conservation Biology . Smithsonian Institution Press., Washington, D.C. 



