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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:17 am
Time: 1:17 am
Results for parrots
1 results foundAuthor: Cantu, Juan Carlos Title: The Illegal Parrot Trade in Mexico: A Comprehensive Assessment Summary: Mexico has 22 species of parrots (psittacines) of which six are endemic. Wild parrots are widespread across the country and have a strong connection with Mexican culture. All species except two are officially listed as at risk; 6 species are classified as endangered, 10 as threatened, and 4 as under special protection. The foremost threats psittacines face in Mexico are loss of habitat and illegal trapping for the pet trade. While some research has been done in the past regarding parrot trafficking, the fundamental questions of the volume of illegal trapping, how and where it is carried out, how trapping affects particular species and how the illegal trade relates to the legal trade were poorly understood. This assessment provides, for the first time, comprehensive answers to these and related questions, as well as detailed historical information on the regulatory programs applied to parrot trapping, the enforcement of those programs, seizures by enforcement officials, mortality rates of captured parrots, and prices in the legal and illegal trades, including historical trends. Based on interviews with trappers and representatives of their unions, and analysis of other data, an estimated range of 65,000 to 78,500 parrots are captured each year. The overall mortality rate for trapped parrots exceeds 75% before reaching a purchaser, which translates to about 50,000 to 60,000 dead birds annually, making this trade terribly inhumane and wasteful. The rate of parrot seizures by the environmental police, Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (Profepa), was assessed. The seizures by Profepa represent an average of only about 2% of the annual illegal trade. Seizure rates appear to be mostly correlated with the level of enforcement effort. It is apparent that Profepa and other agencies currently lack adequate personnel and budgets to police the trade. Through analysis of seizure data obtained from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the assessment determined that only a small percentage of the annual illegal capture is being smuggled out of the country; about 86% to 96% of all trapped Mexican parrots stay in the internal trade. This is a shift from the 1970s and 1980s when the lucrative and huge USA market was considered to drive the trafficking. Now, Mexico must solve the problem internally. This assessment finds that fewer than 150 registered trappers have focused on parrots exclusively. No parrot trapping had been authorized by wildlife officials between 2003 and late 2006. Prior to 2003, the trapping regulations had many drawbacks. Officials were unable to control the number of specimens taken, the time period or the place of capture. The existence of legal trapping authorizations provided cover for the illegal trade, through forging of documents and other illicit methods. Despite the lack of any approved trapping seasons for the last three years unsustainable capture of wild parrots has continued unabated. It takes place all year round, even inside natural protected areas, and affects almost all of the 22 species. Populations of parrots are decreasing due to this exploitation. Scientific surveys estimate a 25-30% decrease in some species; interviews with parrot trappers themselves further corroborate some of these declines. Some parrots have been extirpated from large parts of their historic range. Eventual extinction is foreseeable for whole species if illegal trapping is not reined in. This assessment shows that national and international bans have not cause increased smuggling or increased prices of the affected parrot species over the last 10 years. Prices in Mexico and the USA have, in fact, generally decreased in that time period. Mexico's imports of non-native parrots have sharply increased, but they are too expensive for the huge segment of the Mexican public that purchases low-cost, illegal wild-caught parrots. Breeding centers for native parrots are few; they can breed only a small number of the 22 species and their prices cannot compete with the prices of their wild-caught cousins. This assessment provides policy recommendations to stop the devastating impacts on Mexico's prized native parrots. First and foremost is a well-publicized complete ban on any more trapping authorizations. While authorizations were temporarily halted for three years, new information obtained at the time of printing this report, in October of 2006, indicated that government officials have issued more trapping authorizations. This could be disastrous as it will provide more cover for the illegal trade and fails to send the needed strong message to the trappers and traffickers that the government is serious about conserving viable populations of parrots for the future. Not only a permanent ban, but also dramatically increased enforcement efforts to make the ban effective are needed. This should include increased enforcement efforts by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Law Enforcement agents to reduce the illegal trade, especially for the orange fronted parakeet (Aratinga canicularis), white fronted parrot (Amazona albifrons), yellow cheeked parrot (Amazona autumnalis), lilac crowned parrot (Amazona finschi) and red crowned parrot (Amazona viridigenalis), for which smuggling across the border appears to be increasing, thus is a continuing threat to the species' survival. The lessons about the need for a total ban were learned over several decades in a comparable situation when Mexico attempted to cut back on sea turtle harvesting, but only after several failed harvesting programs and drastic population crashes in almost all native sea turtle populations. For parrots, the time is ripe to tackle the challenges before it is too late. Several Profepa inspectors interviewed agreed a permanent ban is needed. The recommended permanent ban on further parrot trapping should be accompanied by a well-funded bi-national education campaign to make the Mexican and USA publics fully aware that it is wrong to buy any parrot that lacks proper documentation. Encouraging the breeding of low-cost exotic parrots could provide a substitute supply of pets. A Mexican government program to train parrot trappers to pursue other work will be vital, such as breeding exotic parrots and guiding birdwatchers in the field. An important element of conserving wild populations will be to provide some subsidization of trappers, to shift them from an illegal occupation to a legal occupation. USA funding should assist in this as well, in view of the vast deleterious impact that consumer demand from the USA had on these species particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. In sum, only integrated, coherent and well-funded policy changes will succeed in solving the biological, economic and social challenges of the illegal parrot trade. Details: Washington, DC: Defenders of Wildlife, 2007. 121p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 12, 2015 at: https://www.defenders.org/publications/the_illegal_parrot_trade_in_mexico.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Mexico URL: https://www.defenders.org/publications/the_illegal_parrot_trade_in_mexico.pdf Shelf Number: 110587 Keywords: Illegal Wildlife TradeParrotsTrafficking in WildlifeWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimesWildlife Smuggling |