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is very difficult to define. Perhaps 

 there is no relationship between the 

 nvo. Perhaps we must all adjust our 

 thoughts to accept the fact that, in 

 these changing times, there are two 

 distinctly different sectors of conser- 

 vation, captive breeding and 

 conservation in the wild. Unfortu- 

 nately, most of the regulations that 

 have been promulgated by our gov- 

 ernment are geared towards the 

 benefit of the species in the wild. This 

 eliminates the participation efforts of 

 captive breeding in any given conser- 

 vation program that is funded by the 

 government. It also gives the field 

 biologist the upper hand when seek- 

 ing justification for a new "program" 

 to be funded by the government. 



The above scenario is a sad one 

 indeed. It does not consider the one 

 fact that has led to the demise of most 

 species in the first place, habitat 

 destruction. Although collection for 

 the pet trade and breeder trade is 

 blamed for the disappearance of many 

 species in the wild, man's interference 

 in the habitat is really the cause of it 

 all. So we are funding more interfer- 

 ence, ignoring captive conservation, 

 and continuing to cut the habitat on 

 a daily basis. In the mean time, "save 

 the world biologists" are out there 

 hanging unnatural nests, counting 

 birds, shooting birds, and writing 

 their doctoral dissertations on the 

 possible extinction of yet another 

 species of bird. Then there are a few 

 who are participating in release pro- 

 grams that boggle the mind with 

 justified, governmentally funded, stu- 

 pidity. 



On one isolated island we have a 

 biologist who needs to get a doctorate 

 degree. What does she do to get it 

 except sit in the wild and observe a 

 very rare species of Amazon parrot 

 attempt to nest in a new habitat filled 

 with feral cats. Did she ever stop and 

 consider that perhaps the decline of 

 this bird was due to exacdy that which 

 they are observing. Common house 

 cats that have gone wild are destroying 

 the nests, and in some cases, even the 

 laying hen in the nest. Did this field 

 biologist do anything to help the birds 

 or did she only study the nests, write 

 a dissertation and collect her new 

 degree and move on to a new job? As 

 an aviculturist, the first thing that I 

 would have done is have the cats 



destroyedl The only way for this 

 species to recover is to restore the 

 habitat to what it was and make it safe 

 for the birds to nest successfully. 



Interestingly enough, this biologist 

 is very anti-captive breeding. She feels 

 that the demise of most of these rare 

 birds was due to collection for the 

 trade. However, in all my world travels 

 and all the aviaries, public and private, 

 that I have visited, there are NO 

 representatives of this species in cap- 

 tivity. Whoops there goes another one 

 of those... 



Right about the same time, there 

 was another governmentally funded 

 biologist trying to re-establish a parrot 

 species in an area where it has not been 

 seen since the 1930's. This habitat is 

 hostile and full of predators. Could 

 this have been the reason that the birds 

 disappeared from here in the first 

 place? I guess not. The biologist con- 

 tinued to release birds into this area 

 only to find them killed or missing 

 completely. Surely there must have 

 been another reason these birds have 

 moved out of this area. 



This same species has another 

 range. A range where it is quite 

 cominon and not in a highly threat- 

 ened position, unless of course 

 someone decides they need the lum- 

 ber. Why not release birds into this 

 area where they already exist in 

 adequate numbers and the newly 

 released can learn from the birds that 

 are already there. Of course this would 

 not be such an exciting project and 

 may not receive as much press and 

 prestige as starting an entirely new 

 group in an uninhabited area. Instead, 

 the final published result of the pro- 

 ject is summarized as "reintroduction 

 of birds is not feasible, captive bred 

 birds are not suitable for release." 

 Strike another blow against avicul- 

 ture. 



If you really want to see conserva- 

 tion at work, take a good look at the 

 government projca on one of the 

 northern Caribbean Islands. In the 

 early 1980's there were an estimated 

 50 representatives in the wild. Every- 

 one jumped through the hoop to help 

 save the bird. Of course none were 

 taken off the island and placed with 

 captive breeders who could have 

 done some good with them. Instead, 

 captured pairs were set up on the 

 island (some pairs were two females). 



and the results of this captive-breed- 

 ing farce were used to deny captive 

 breeding as a viable option. The 

 species continued to decline in the 

 wild. As far as anyone knows, this bird 

 is still in decline. Hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars have been spent by 

 the tax payers to save this bird and yet 

 the results of this project are difficult 

 if not impossible to acquire. My guess 

 is that the project has done litde to 

 save this bird. If it were a successful 

 project wouldn't the biologists in 

 charge want the world to know what 

 they have done? 



I would like to congratulate one 

 conservation effort by Mr Paul Butler 

 and his associates. It appears that the 

 educational campaign that he has 

 been involved with in the lower 

 Caribbean Islands has resulted in an 

 increase in the number of birds that 

 are in the wild. Keep up the good work 

 Mr. Buder, could you possibly share 

 some of your knowledge and insight 

 with the biologists in these other 

 programs? 



Another conservation effort that 

 warrants mention is the Mauritius 

 Parakeet projea that is funded, in 

 part, by the World Parrot Trust, a 

 group of captive breeders and others 

 I might like to add. This project shows 

 great potential and is beginning to 

 demonstrate a conneaion between 

 captive breeding and wild habitat 

 management. 



Why am I so cynical, you might ask. 

 Am I the only one that sees that the 

 governmentally funded projects 

 around the world are not working? 

 How many Kakapo have been bred 

 since the government stepped into 

 that project? How many Puerto Rican 

 Amazons? The list can go on but it 

 would only be depressing. Remem- 

 ber, "You can't fight City Hall." 



Let's take a look at an interesting 

 conservation effort for the Spix's 

 Macaw. Oh the scandal it is. There is 

 only one left in the wild. In this case, 

 collecting for the trade did in fact 

 deplete the wild, but there were only 

 a few left in the wild anyway. If wc 

 had waited for the many "do right" 

 governments to step in there would 

 have been none. So, pairs of this bird 

 were taken from the wild and ended 

 up in private collections around the 

 world. There was a "kind of hush, all 

 over the world' as to who had them. 



