167 



NlfliSi^/i- BennyJ. Gallaway, Ph.D. 



Director of Conservation 



1410 Cavitt Street 



Bryan, Texa-s 77801 



(409) 775-2000 



26 October 1995 



The Honorable Jim Saxton 



Chairman, Subcommittee on Fisheries 



WildHfe & Oceans 

 Committee on Resources 

 U.S. House of Representatives 

 Hl-805 O'Neill House Office Building 

 Washington, D.C. 20515 



Dear Congressman Saxton: 



I wish to provide comment on the written testimony of Dr. S.R. 

 Beissinger presented to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans 

 on 28 September 1995 concerning the reauthorization of the Wild Bird 

 Conservation Act of 1992. The part I wish to address is found on pages 5 and 6 

 of his testimony under the heading "Captive Breeders Do Not Need 

 Continued Access to Wild Stocks". In that section, he asserts that, with 

 cooperative management, only 50 to 75 birds per species are needed to 

 constitute a viable gene pool for a captive population. This statement is 

 predicated on the stated premise that limited genetic diversity is required for 

 maintaining permanent captive populations not used for reintroduction to 

 the wild. This premise acknowledges that an unstated amount of genetic 

 diversity will be lost, but in his view this will not affect the ability of 

 aviculturists to continue to produce birds, albeit with ever-decreasing genetic 

 diversity and resemblance to the wild stock. We disagree. Within a very 

 short time, the captive populations will not be valuable as a conservation 

 hedge to extinction, even as a last resort. Under Dr. Beissinger's scenario, the 

 genetic fitness of the captive population would decline to a status where the 

 only value of the birds produced would be to supply the domestic pet trade. 

 Further, the captive population would be doomed to ultimate extinction 

 without extraordinary genetic management at a level which has heretofore 

 not been achieved (due to rapid acceleration of inbreeding coefficients) by any 

 sector, public or private. The genetic tools and technology required to achieve 

 the level of management that is suggested are only recently emerging. 



HMCMICAN FCDCRIITION Of HVICUITUHC. INC. 



P.O. BOX 56218 PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85079-6218 (602) 484-0931 



