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continued imports of some species while restricting imports on other species 

 regulated under international treaty and subject to more intense trade pressures. The 

 resulting legislation, known as the Wild Bird Conservation Act (H.R. 5013), was 

 unanimously approved by Congress, and was signed into law by President George 

 Bush on October 23, 1992. 



The Wild Bird Conservation Act protects wild birds by restricting the 

 importation of bird species listed in the three Appendices to CITES. The Act placed 

 an immediate ban on ten of the most imperiled species and established one-year 

 import quotas for the remainder. Once these quotas expired in October 1993, the Act 

 effectively banned all importation of CITES-llsted bird species, with exceptions for 

 scientific research, zoological breeding or display, approved cooperative breeding 

 programs, and a "clean list" of species for which trade is known to consist entirely of 

 captive-bred individuals. Ten bird families, such as guineafowl, turkeys, pheasants, 

 and ducks, are also exempt from the Act's provisions, as are all birds native to the 

 United States. As an additional measure of protection, the Act authorizes the Fish 

 and Wildlife Service to prohibit the importation of species not listed under CITES; to 

 date, however, the Service has chosen not to do so. 



Success of the Wild Bird Conservation Act 



Since passage of the WBCA in 1 992, the volume of birds imported to the 

 United States has declined significantly. Throughout the 1 980s, the United States 

 imported an average of 700,000 birds annually. According a series of reports based 

 on these import figures, captive-bred birds accounted for approximately nine to 1 3 

 percent of the total, with the remainder taken from the wild [5]. Figures for 1994 are 

 still incomplete, but analysis of the available data indicates a total of 80,000 birds 

 imported, approximately 45 percent of which were captive bred. This reduction in 

 trade is primarily due to the decrease in the importation of wild-caught birds, which 

 made up the majority of the trade prior to 1992. By restricting imports, the Wild Bird 

 Conservation Act has successfully reduced trade pressures on wild bird populations. 

 For example, biologists have noted the importance of the WBCA to conservation of 

 the red-fronted macaw, as 80 percent of the international trade in this species was 

 destined for the United States [6]. 



The Act has been a success for bird retailers and breeders in the United States 

 as well. Despite predictions to the contrary, the sale of pet birds in the United States 

 has flourished since the passage of the Wild Bird Conservation Act. An annual retail 

 survey published by Pet Product News indicates that sales of pet birds and bird 

 products have nearly doubled in the past four years, from $277 million in 1 991 to 

 $543 million in 1 994. Even prior to the WBCA, many pet stores, from major chains 

 such as Petsland, PETsMART, and Docktor Pet Centers to independent stores such 

 as the American Bird Company in Northern Virginia, sold only captive-bred birds. Pet 



