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Aviculturists committed to conservation could play a role in future reintroduction 

 programs if adequate control over disease threats and domestication can be achieved, and the 

 ownership and control of birds is given up to a central authority. To date, aviculturists have been 

 very reluctant to meet these requirments. Their birds are usually kept in multispecies facilites in 

 close proximity to many other species so are high disease risks to reintroduce to the wild. 

 Furthermore, their birds are selected to become domesticated to be good companion animals. 



In general, birds in captivity have very limited utility for recovering their wild 

 counterparts. This conclusion has been reached by scientists involved in some of the most 

 intensive captive breeding programs for endangered species recovery (Snyder et al. in press). 

 While captive breeding has served an important role in the recovery of a few select species, it's 

 potential for recovering endangered populations is severely limited by: (1) difficulties in 

 breeding certain species in captivity; (2) difficulties in successfully reintroducing many species 

 to the wild; (3) the high costs of captive breeding facilities and personnel; (4) the risks of 

 introducing exotic diseases, which are common in captive environments, to the wild; (5) 

 progressive domestification and loss of genetic diversity in captivity which makes animals 

 unsuitable for reintroduction; (6) problems in ensuring continuity of captive breeding programs 

 for the decade or more it may require for successful reintroduction; and (7) the premptions of 

 other, better techniques that could conserve endangered species in the wild. Details about these 

 limitations can be found in the appended APC policy statement on captive breeding. 



Thus, captive breeding of exotic birds as a conservation strategy should be pursued only 

 as a last resort, and only as part of internationally recognized and structured programs . The 

 promotion of captive breeding as conservation by aviculturists is sometimes a rationalization for 

 keeping exotic birds in captivity in private collections. Such an excuse was used by convicted 

 cockatoo smugglers this past summer to justify their illegal activities. 



Captive Breeders Do Not Need Continued Access to Wild Stocks 



Critics of the Exotic Wild Bird Conservation Act claim that the decrease in the 

 importation of wild birds makes it difficult to maintain the genetic diversity of their captive 

 populations. This is a misconception, as limited genetic diversity is required for maintaining 

 permanent captive populations not used for reintroduction to the wild (i.e. avicultural 

 collections). In fact, all species of commercial importance are already represented in sufficient 

 numbers in captivity to constitute a viable gene pool under active, cooperative management (50- 

 75 birds per species). Species with fewer irulividuals in captivity are obviously not of 

 commercial importance. In other words, if aviculturists would only be willing to manage their 

 gene pools by moving birds among their private collections, they could take advantage of the 

 more than sufficient genetic diversity that is already present in maintaining their captive 

 populations. 



For aviculture arui captive breeding of exotic species to decrease pressure on wild 

 populations and result in conservation, captive breeding must become self-sustaining. In other 

 words, captive breeding must be conducted without requiring the continued importation of wild- 

 caught birds. Instead of supplementing captive birds with wild imports, private aviculturists 

 must begin to adjust their practices toward the goal of self-sustaining captive populations, 

 including better coordination of studbooks to maintain genetically viable captive gene pools. 

 Organizing the exchange of birds to become genetically self-sufficient has been hampered by the 

 secretive nature of the aviculture community and by receiving financial support from businesses 

 that benefit directly from the continued importation of wild-caught birds. 



