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wild imports to supplement captive birds, aviculturists must adjust their practices towards the 

 goal of establishing self-sustaining captive populations. All species of commercial importance 

 are already represented in sufficient numbers in captivity to constitute a viable gene pool.'^ 

 The majority of bird species that are not available to aviculturists for captive breeding are either 

 critically endangered and already protected by international law, or prohibited from trade in 

 their country of origin. 



Some aviculturists are mistakenly lead to believe that they are conserving exotic wild birds by 

 importing them from their countries of origin, before they suffer from habitat destruction or 

 other pressures, such as hunting. They might truly believe that they are "saving" species by 

 maintaining them in captivity for future reintroduction and that the WBCA is inhibiting their 

 ability to do so by restricting the importation of wild birds for breeding purposes. However, 

 claims of this nature are most often a thinly-veiled rationalization for a personal obsession to 

 own an endangered species or a kind rarely found in captivity. 



The WBCA recognizes that American aviculturists have a valuable role to play in the 

 conservation of exotic wild bird species, in terms of their ability to meet consumers' demand for 

 pet birds through captive breeding. However, attempts to use captive-breeding, with the 

 eventual goal of reintroduction. as a conservation technique, in the absence of appropriate in- 

 situ conservation efforts, actually can be detrimental to wild populations. 



Conclusion 



Through the enactment of the WBCA, the United States is working successfully to address the 

 problems associated with the trade in exotic wild birds. By greatly reducing imports of wild 

 birds for the American pet market, the WBCA has removed a significant threat to wild exotic 

 bird populations. The United States is now a leader in worldwide efforts to improve the status 

 of exotic wild birds species. Meanwhile, consumers' demand for pet birds are being fulfilled 

 through captive breeding, and the United States exotic pet bird market is flourishing. Since the 

 passage of the WBCA domestic retail sales of birds and bird-related products have soared. 



The WBCA does not infringe upon the ability of United States aviculturists to breed birds. The 

 importation of exotic captive -bred birds is subject to regulation because, if we are truly 

 interested in protecting wild bird populations from trade, we must ensure that these imports are 

 genuinely captive-bred. As history has shown, we cannot depend on the word of exporters, 

 importers, or a foreign governments that a bird is captive bred. The profits to be gained by 

 illegal trade are simply too great. 



Promoting the conservation of exotic birds in the wild is a goal that most of us share. The 

 United States Wild Bird Conservation Act is a valuable tool for accomplishing this goal. Let's 

 not jeopardize the continued success of this unique legislation. We urge the Members of the 

 Subcommittee to support the reauthorization of the Wild Bird Conservation Act without 

 weakening amendments. 



^ Allen.C. M., &K. A. Johnson. 1991. Psitticine Captive Breeding Survey-A Survey of Private Aviculture 

 in the United States. World Wildlife Fund U.S., Washington. D.C. 



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