107 



Testimony of Frank M. Bond 

 WBCA Oversight Hearings 

 September 28, 1995 



request to ensure that only competent and dedicated individuals are issued 



permits. We insist that the welfare of these birds be placed above all 



other concerns. 



The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued several cooperative captive breeding 



permits to raptor propagators which are required under WBCA. Some people here today may 



argue that the problems for captive propagators of raptors are taken care of by the issuance of 



cooperative program permits. I assume that it has been an administrative burden for the Service 



to complete such propagation program requests. For those who breed many raptors in captivity, 



it has been yet another regulatory burden without any perceived benefit. In fact, it is simply 



another stumbling block which actually inhibits the work of several conservation programs. I 



believe that Service recognizes the problem, but the WBCA demands that more unnecessary 



paperwork be completed for birds of prey. 



If the WBCA is ever going to benefit any wild populations of birds, then it must be much 

 better focus'^d on very specialized problems. Those problems need to be defined and understood 

 completely by the people who are going to administer the WBCA. All families or species of 

 birds which will not benefit from the system developed under the WBCA should be specifically 

 exempted. For the reasons stated above, Falconiformes should be exempted, because wild 

 populations are now protected, international movement is strictly controlled, and people who 

 handle raptors for any purpose are closely regulated. 



