Return to Sender: 32 Illegally-Smuggled Parrots Head Back Home to Africa

Airport officials confiscate a lot of things. A three-and-a-half-ounce shampoo bottle here, a sharp-looking pair of tweezers there. But three years ago, airport officials in Bulgaria made a much bigger bust—108 African Grey parrots. No one knows exactly where they came from or exactly where they were headed, but earlier this month the 32 survivors of this harrowing ordeal finally arrived back in Africa, where they belong. 

“There is a misconception that African Greys are really common because they are kept as pets everywhere,” explained Cristiana Senni, Trade Specialist at World Parrot Trust, one of the organizations that worked to help return the parrots to the wild. “But the wild population is nothing like what it used to be. They are locally extinct in many West and Central African countries where they used to be ubiquitous.”

The 32 Greys, now safely in Uganda, spent over three years in Sofia Zoo in Bulgaria. Many of them died, succumbing to diseases that would never kill a much less stressed bird.

As court papers and health inspections dragged on, Senni worked to find an African country that would take the avian refugees in. Uganda finally stepped up, offering the beleaguered birds a new home on an Ngamba Island in Lake Victoria, which already serves as a chimp sanctuary. This is the first time that African Grey parrots confiscated outside of Africa have been returned to one of their range countries for rehabilitation. 

It’s sometimes joked that African Grey parrots have the intelligence of a five-year-old and the temperament of a two-year-old. Bird owners agree that they can make very rewarding and charismatic pets, but only if you have as much time to spend with them and are as dedicated to keeping them stimulated and entertained as you would be with a kindergartener.  

8 Endangered Birds We Must Never Let Go ExtinctSee Full Gallery

Currently, greys are listed on CITES Appendix II, which means that the wild caught trade is restricted because the population cannot sustain heavy losses. Wild caught greys are such a hot commodity because they are about half the price of a captive bred bird, which can fetch around $1,300. Breeders play a large role in the wild caught trade to keep their costs down. 

“There are only three African countries which can still legally export a certain quota of wild caught Greys each year; Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo,”  Senni explained. “And the only captive breeding program on the continent is in South Africa. So when Guinea tries to export a couple hundred Greys, you just wonder where they came from.”

Senni and other Grey advocates are working to get the parrot moved up to Appendix I, which would prohibit the wild caught trade altogether and hopefully make the illegal trade easier to detect.

“We really hope that this project will be an example,” said Senni. “These birds shouldn’t end up languishing in zoos in whatever country they are finally detected in. They should go home and be free and help the wild population recover.”

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Joanna M. Foster writes about the environment and energy for the New York Times, Popular Science and OnEarth Magazine, among others. She has traveled extensively in Africa and India and is passionate about conservation and development issues, especially as they are impacted by climate change. She lives in Hoboken, New Jersey, but dreams of Kenya.

Fun Facts About Parrots

Vivid, colorful and smart birds, parrots are native to countries in the Southern hemisphere. There are more than 300 species of parrots with a great diversity in color and size. They are a common household pet because of their bright plumage and musical abilities. Some parrots can even mimic human speech.

Macaws, Amazon parrots, cockatiels, parakeets, and cockatoos are the most popular pet parrots. Parrots range in length from 3.5 in (8.7cm) to 40 in (100 cm) and weigh anywhere from 2.25 oz to 3.5 pounds. They are omnivores and eat a variety of fruit, nuts, seeds as well as insects. Parrots can live up to 80 years in the wild.

All parrots are zygodactyls, meaning they have four toes on each foot, two pointing forward and two projecting backward. They also have a strong, curved beak which some use to search for grubs. Their sharp claws help them climb and perch on trees.

Other facts about parrots

Cockatoo species have a crest of feathers on the top of their heads that can be raised for display, and retracted.

Most parrots are social birds living in flocks. They communicate through a series of loud screeching and squawking sounds.

While some parrots build regular nests, most build their homes in holes in trees, rock cavities, ground tunnels and even in termite mounds.

Parrots have been kept as pets for decades. Famous historical figures, such as Winston Churchill and King Henry VIII were parrot owners.

Only pets will mimic people and noises they hear. The African gray parrots are the best imitators of human speech.

In studies, African Grey Parrots have also been known to count, identify objects and even string together short sentences to answer complex questions.

Illegal trapping and trading of parrots has greatly hurt their numbers because many pet parrots were once wild. Due to this, several parrot species are highly endangered.

Other resources:

National Geographic – Parrots

San Diego Zoo – Parrot

BBC Nature – Parrot

National Wildlife Federation – African Gray Parrot

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Unsustainable Grey Parrot Trade in South Africa

It has taken us just 70 years to almost wipe-out one of the most abundant parrots on earth, converting the species into one of the most abundant, well-known and widespread pets on earth. Millions upon millions have been captured and removed from the wild to accommodate booming demand over the last century. Just as demand for wild birds and animals was subsiding in the “western world”, a resurgent and prosperous Far East has hundreds of millions more people trading birds. Grey parrots were once spread throughout the tropical forests of central and West Africa, but now find themselves restricted to protected forests with declining population numbers throughout their distributional range. We have already experienced local extinctions in Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and throughout West Africa. Please listen to this interview and watch this slideshow on the trade in wild-caught grey parrots. We need to make sure that no further grey parrots are removed from the wild and only captive-bred “greys” are used in ethical breeding facilities that offer breeding pairs a good quality of life. The price of the grey parrot in your local pet store may go up, but this will be in the knowledge that the species is safe in the wild for future generations…

500 confiscated African Grey parrots being allowed to stretch their wings at the Lwiro Sanctuary. They were later called the “Congo 500″.

In an effort to better conserve the species NGOs like the World Parrot Trust and BirdLife International have split them into two species, the Endangered Timneh grey parrot in West Africa and the Vulnerable African grey parrot in central Africa. New forums and groups are being established to save one of the most traded wild-caught birds in the world. We have petitioned the CITES Secretariat, worked with airlines and cargo carriers, met with government officials, and rehabilitated confiscated grey parrots for release… Nothing has been easy and the current establishment supports ongoing trade in wild-caught plants and animals as long as local authorities support it. South Africa, for example, has very string laws to protect our indigenous plant and animals species, but do very little to protect the wildlife populations of even neighboring countries. Is it everyone for themselves? If so, we are all going to end up with nothing.

African grey parrot in captivity. One of the most intelligent birds on earth and an important global ambassador for Africa. (Cyril Laubscher)

The “fight” to keep grey parrots safe in the wild is now moving into the forests, salt licks and clearings of the Congo and West African forests, as we mobilize a global effort to save the species from further local extinctions with the Wildlife Conservation Society. Saving Africa’s most important global ambassador from persecution and capture back home is going to be a global effort. Booming emerging markets and the increased use of container ships to move large numbers of live, wild-caught parrots, birds and animals is spurring on the recent boom in demand. Poor regulation in South Africa has established this country as a global hub for the wild-caught bird trade. The government has openly supported the unsustainable and unethical trade in wild-caught grey parrots and has exceeded CITES export quotas for grey parrots from the DRC several times. This radio interview examines the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of 687 wild-caught African grey parrots on a commercial flight from Johannesburg to Durban…

Link: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/12/27/mystery-death-of-687-wild-grey-parrots-on-1-hour-flight-to-durban-revisited/

Companion parrot owner reading a book with their captive-bred African grey parrot. Yes, they are that intelligent… (Frankie Fortyfour/Cape Parrot Project)

African grey parrots and timneh grey parrots are threatened by habitat destruction and the capture for the wild-caught bird trade. These are some of the most intelligent creatures on earth capable of advanced cognitive abilities and able to firm close personal relationships with human beings as “companion parrots”. In the wild, parrots live a life in balance with nature, avoiding unnecessary risks wherever possible, mating for life, and living long, interactive lives in local populations of thousands of individuals. In captivity as companion parrots they have helped people through personal distress and become important members of the family. Grey parrots and other parrots have well developed emotions and feelings and should never have been considered a trade commodity. I recently visited a non-commercial parrot breeder near East London (South Africa) to film an insert for a local wildlife show (See: “Cape Parrot Project: A Story of People and Parrots over Many Generations…”), and had this experience:

“We were filming outside an African grey parrot breeding pair that had eggs. Both were in the nest box when we arrived. After a few moments the male stuck his head out and turned it upside down to consider us for who we were and figure out what the camera was… After a long silence in contemplation he emerged from the nest hole and walked over like a lurching old man. He stopped a foot from myself and the TV presenter and asked, in a perfect parrot voice: “Do you have an appointment?!” After a calm delivery he paused for a moment and then began to growl softly. This father to-be didn’t like our dumbfounded silence and wanted us to leave!”

African grey parrots feeding in the wild. © Diana May. All rights reserved. Source: World Parrot Trust – http://www.parrots.org

The fact remains that the majority of captive-bred grey parrot chicks on display in pet stores around the world have wild-caught parents that are confined to a small cage in a “bird mill”. This is nothing like the experience we had with the non-commercial breeder. In “bird mills”, which are reported to exist in basements in New York City, the wild parrots are kept in cramped, dark cages and fed high protein and calcium diets to promote egg production. If the eggs are removed, she will continue laying until she eventually becomes depleted, slows down, and is replaced. Wild-caught grey parrots, like battery chickens, can be replaced cheaply by importing them en masse from source countries where they are still captured. It is unfortunate that the avicultural industry in South Africa is dominated by importers, traders and breeders that have now become a threat to endangered parrot around the world. If we manage to halt the importation of wild-caught birds into South Africa we will not threaten jobs or endanger livelihoods. With adequate enterprise development funding from government we will create jobs in the avicultural industry and continue to export large numbers of chicks and breeding birds around the world.

Grey parrots crammed into a travel crate that was confiscated during a smuggling operation. Just look how stressed these poor parrots are… (World Parrot Trust/PASA)

The use of wild-caught birds and monkeys as breeding stock is controlled by organized crime and not legitimate aviculturalists using captive-bred breeding stock traded on official stud books. In the 1960s in South Africa there were meticulous stud books, most of which are no longer used. The erosion of the bird breeding industry over the last 50 years has been due to the use en masse of wild-caught breeding stock. Commercial airlines and specialist cargo carriers gave these breeders cheap access to huge numbers of cheap, wild-caught parrots and monkeys from around Africa and the world. A South African importer and parrot trader started importing shipments of up to 1,500 grey parrots about 8 years ago in order to pay back a debt to a powerful importer and breeder. This syndicate, the “African Grey Mafia” still operates and functions like the mafia with threats, phone calls, misinformation, and the occasional bust that is swept under the rug. The 687 wild-caught grey parrots that died on the commercial flight were “awarded” to the syndicate after a month-long legal battle. The circumstances surrounding their alleged mass death on a 1-hour flight remain unclear. The State Veterinarian’s Office, local quarantine facilities, permit officers, quarantine officers and cargo carriers gave conflicting stories. All involved most definitely knew that it was illegal to cram 50 grey parrots into crates that size and that it was unethical to transport that many, highly stressed wild grey parrots in 15 crates on one flight. The people present when the parrots were loaded had all seen shipments this size many times that year and in recent years. They all new the trader and importers personally. The report from a comprehensive investigation into the tragic death of all these grey parrots was ignored by the Department of Environmental Affairs.

“Outrage over dead parrots”(January 14 2011) By Yolandi Groenewald

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-01-14-outrage-over-dead-parrots

“Bird mafia threatens African greys” (April 18 2011) By Fiona Macleod

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-08-bird-mafia-threatens-african-greys

Wild-caught African grey parrots being transported in cramped crates to markets like South Africa and the Far East. (World Parrot Trust/PASA)

When military police confiscated 161 dehydrated, wild-caught grey parrots on the Mozambican border, the government allowed the World Parrot Trust to rehabilitate these parrots and arrange a release site in Rwanda before awarding the parrots to the trader that tried to move these parrots from Maputo into South Africa. We have fought this is in the newspapers and achieved a moratorium on the importation of wild-caught grey parrots from the DRC in 2011. Trade has, however, started up again through the laundering these same parrots as “captive-bred” via Addis Ababa or Maputo before importing them into South Africa via small airports like Port Elizabeth. Again all involved know that they are wild-caught and that this trade is causing harm to wild populations.

“Birds perish as ownership row rages” (July 19 2011) By Sheree Bega

http://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/birds-perish-as-ownership-row-rages-1.1101863#.UUbz6nyhIXc

“State hands over parrots to Mozambique” (August 23 2011) By Sheree Bega

http://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/state-hands-over-parrots-to-mozambique-1.1123416

African Grey Parrots take several weeks to rehabilitate due to the stress of capture and confinement. 

African grey parrots destined to be used a breeding stock for the pet bird trade. (World Parrot Trust/PASA)

Please support the World Parrot Trust’s “Fly Free” Campaign by donating to stimulate positive change for parrots in the wild: 

http://www.parrots.org/flyfree/

Two Endangered Parrot Species Return Home

It’s homecoming week for two species of endangered parrots, with two different flocks of birds being returned to their homelands on two different continents.

The World Parrot Trust announced Wednesday that 32 African grey parrots that had been illegally smuggled out of Africa and into Bulgaria had arrived at Uganda’s Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary after a three year saga. The birds were originally slipped out of Africa via Lebanon and then taken to Bulgaria where they were seized by customs.

The iconic African grey parrot is considered one of the most intelligent bird species, and it has been heavily over-collected because of its uncanny ability to mimic human speech. Because of heavy trapping and capture, this once common species is rated as “vulnerable” and “decreasing” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The returned African greys will now undergo a quarantine at the sanctuary. Once they clear the health checks, they will be released back into the wild.

On Tuesday, six blue-throated macaws were flown from the UK to Bolivia, which is the only country in the world where the species exists in the wild. These six birds were never smuggled or held illegally. Instead, they were legally bred at the Paradise Park Zoo in Hayle, England.

The captive-bred blue-throats will help build up the population of a species that numbers around 100 in the wild. It hasn’t yet been determined if it will be best to use them for captive-breeding more blue-throats or if they too should be released back into the wild. Lorena Kempff, the foundation’s director, said that they’re in good condition for either purpose.

The blue-throated macaw was devastated by over-collection for the pet trade in the 1970s and 80s. At one point, the species was thought to be extinct in the wild, but it was rediscovered in 1992 — only to be hard hit by smugglers again. IUCN rates the species as critically endangered because of the combination of a tiny population and a relatively small habitat in the Beni department of Bolivia.

In April 2011, I traveled to a nest site on a partly flooded cattle ranch where I saw a wild pair of blue-throated macaws that were using an artificial nest box provided by the researchers. The babies in the photograph were just days away from fledging and were removed briefly from the box so that technicians could check on their health.

I learned that as long as they’re not hunted or trapped, these endangered parrots can live in harmony with human beings. It’s up to us to bring them safely home.

[photos of wild blue-throated macaw babies by Elaine Radford]

African Grey Parrots confiscated in 2010 depart for Uganda with cooperation of …

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African Grey Parrots confiscated in 2010 depart for Uganda with cooperation of World Parrot Trust

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“African Grey Mafia” Threaten Grey Parrots in Wild

African grey parrots are the most populous non-human Africans outside of Africa… These charismatic parrots are our most important ambassadors, charming people around the world with vocabularies of up to 200 words and advanced cognitive abilities. For at least 50 years, grey parrots have been among the most internationally-traded wild birds on earth. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) trade records and the most up-to-date research estimate that more than 4 million grey parrots have been captured for the wild-caught bird trade, for their feathers and heads, or simply for bushmeat. Local extinctions have occurred throughout their range with grey parrots disappearing from forests in Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo-Brazzaville, Central African Republic, and elsewhere in central and West Africa. We are removing this iconic parrots from the map of Africa by capturing an estimated 21% of the global population every year. Why, in 2009, did South Africans import just over 5,000 wild-caught grey parrots from the DRC and then export over 25,000 grey parrots in the same year? Why do we need so many wild-caught African grey parrots when we can breed them so effectively? 

Please listen to this interview with Boyd Matson about the unethical and unsustainable trade in wild-caught African grey parrots on National Geographic Weekend in November 2011 (photos and video provided by the World Parrot Trust and PASA)… 

African grey parrots feeding in the wild. © Diana May. All rights reserved. Source: World Parrot Trust – http://www.parrots.org

Stressed out and mistreated grey parrots being unpacked from crates at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

Confiscated, wild-caught grey parrots in their own faeces being unpacked at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon. These parrots live for 60-80 years, have advanced cognitive abilities and complex social interactions, and should be treated with the respect and care they deserve. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

African grey parrots being prepared for market by local traders… (Bruce Wilson/Cape Parrot Project)

How many wild-caught bird trade are traded internationally every year?

In 1975, an mind-boggling estimated 7.5 million wild-caught birds were traded around the world. Thousands upon thousands of birds, reptiles, fish and wildlife at international airports, ports and borders resulted in CITES and by the 1990s estimated global trade had come down to less than 5 million wild birds per year. Over recent decades trade figures have dropped due to the halt on wild-caught bird imports into the European Union and the tightening of international laws controlling the wildlife trade. To put today’s global trade in wild-caught birds, which stands at 1-2 million per annum, an estimated 750 million chickens, ducks, turkeys and other poultry are traded internationally each year. The modern world owes a huge debt to birds and a great way of paying this back is protecting wild birds from the wild-caught bird trade. As can se seen in this series of photographs, the wild birds always lose out and this needs to change…

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Why use wild-caught African grey parrots that are potentially diseased?

People around the world associate parrots with cages and do not instantly visualize them flying free, high above the tree canopy in large, squawking flocks. Budgies and cockatiels are the most popular pet birds on earth followed by the grey parrot. We are now very good at breeding all three and do not need to rely on wild populations. The only problem is that the commercial bird breeding business plan today is better suited to short-lived, small-bodied parrots and finches, not grey parrots that live for up to 80 years and take a long time before they start breeding. Budgie and cockatiel breeders are so successful that wild-caught budgies and cockatiels traders cannot compete with them. As a well-known aviculturalists says: “You can breed cockatiels in a shoebox almost right away.” The European Union banned the importation of wild-caught birds after a few scares with H5N1 avian influenza appearing at airports in imported wild-caught birds, so there is a very strong food security and animal health argument for banning the trade in wild-caught birds around the world. H5N1 cost billions of dollars to bring under control and destroyed many local economies based on the poultry industry. Why then do we risk importing wild-caught grey parrots?

Grey parrots only start breeding at about 10 years old and need to be parent-raised for several years after hatching. Veterinary bills, housing costs, and good quality food over 10 years costs a huge amount of money. This makes using 10-year-old captive-bred grey parrots in commercial breeding facilities very difficult. This is not to saw that dedicated aviculturalists do not establish breeding facilities that sustainably supply grey parrot chicks at low prices to local and international markets. As a result of easy, cheap, legal access to wild-caught grey parrots in South Africa, “bird mills” have sprung up everywhere that use hundreds of wild-caught breeding pairs to produce thousands upon thousands of eggs and pre-weaned chicks for export. Healthy wild parrots are captured in tropical forests in the DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon and elsewhere, transported to markets, sexed and selected by veterinarians, and then sold to importers. Middlemen then sell shipments of 500-1,000 grey parrots for $60,000-100,000. This initial capital outlay is a fraction of the costs over 10 years to raise a grey parrot for breeding. All a misguided entrepreneur needs is a simple breeding facility and they have a lucrative grey parrot export business on their hands. In South Africa, organized crime has taken over the grey parrot export industry and have established global syndicates linked to Singapore, USA, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bahrain, Philippines and Taiwan. With the criminals has come a well-financed lobby to protect the trade in wild-caught birds and the rapid decay in the overall standards and practices in the South African avicultural industry.

A view into the hell that these “Near Threatened” grey parrots have to go through before being quarantined for months and then condemned to a shortened life in a “bird mill”. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

Grey parrots make wonderful companions and can become a member of the family. (Karen Grace/Cape Parrot Project)

Confiscated, wild-caught African grey parrots at the Lwiro Primate Sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

Grey parrot that has been neglected. Is this a suitable fate for a very intelligent, wild-caught bird? (Laura Tomini/Cape Parrot Project)

“African Grey Mafia”

A small group of fraudsters and smugglers, the “African Grey Mafia” have dominated the trade in parrots and monkeys in South Africa for the past two decades. This trade is conservatively valued at more than US$50 million per year. Foreign currency profits are often re-invested into the importation of wild-caught endangered species such as Scarlet macaws (through the Philippines) and cockatoos (through New Zealand). In 2007, Phillipus Fourie was busted by customs officials at Auckland International Airport with 44 endangered cockatoo eggs hidden in special compartments sewn into a vest. In 2008, another young South African attempted to smuggle hundreds of rare Madagascan chameleons, snakes, lizards and frogs in his jacket and luggage. We do not have much left in our forests, oceans, grasslands and wetlands… The only remedy in Africa or anywhere else for that matter is to halt all further trade in wild-caught birds and find alternative livelihoods for local communities previously dependent on this trade. The days of being blindly pro-trade are over, the wild-caught bird trade is no longer a viable source of income for remote rural communities. Most  legitimate aviculturalists that do not use wild-caught birds and parrots as breeding stock have had to become non-commercial breeders, as they cannot match the low prices of the syndicates that often avoid customs and VAT to increase their margins. The message to the South African government is clear… Halt the wild-caught bird trade in South Africa and support the development of a sustainable avicultural industry that does not rely on wild-caught birds…

Excessive import levels and the death of 687 grey parrots on a commercial flight from Johannesburg to Durban on Christmas Eve in 2010 resulted in a moratorium of the issuance of CITES import permits for wild-caught grey parrots. The exponential growth in the use of wild-caught grey parrots in “bird mills” in South Africa has ended, but many facilities continue to operate on smallholdings and farms far away from law enforcement that use smuggled, wild-caught parrots and monkeys. It seems everything we do simply drives this lucrative business opportunity further underground. When it became too difficult to import wild-caught grey parrots by air into South Africa, we started getting reports of grey parrots being smuggled by road from Namibia and by foot from Mozambique into South Africa. Parrots hidden with plastic toys or motor parts, and in amongst fresh produce. In April 2011, a military petrol on the border between South Africa and Mozambique heard parrots screeching at midnight in the remote bush along the border fence, They discovered four barefoot Mozambican nationals carrying 4 crates with 50-60 grey parrots in each. The border patrol gave chase and one crate of 60 parrots disappeared into the cool night air, while the rest were confiscated and quarantined for 6 months before being surrendered to the Mozambican authorities, who then gave the parrots to the suspected smuggler. This is going to turn into a war unless global leaders step in to control this unsustainable, unjustifiable and unethical trade in one of our planet’s treasures, Africa’s grey parrot…

Grey parrots flying away from a communal drinking point. These are most often the capture sites for hundreds upon hundreds of these parrots using nylon snares and fishing nets. (Diana May)

Confiscated, wild-caught grey parrots at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

The way forward…

The upgrading of the two grey parrot species to CITES Appendix I has been undermined every times by the perception that sustainable harvesting of grey parrots is the only way to effectively conserve them. This notion is somewhat counter-intuitive and anachronistic, but the new generation of statesman and conservationists in Africa and around the world are realizing this. South Africa has been allowed to become a global hub for the wild-caught bird trade over the last few decades. The trade in wild-caught birds in Africa has always been about exploitation. In 1992 the United States banned the importation of wild-caught birds due to concerns around disease and commitments to biodiversity conservation. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand followed shortly after and the European Union banned this trade in 2006. Since 1992 the South African avicultural and bird export industries have boomed and now we have Africans to blame for the exploitation of Africa’s natural heritage. New hubs are springing up in the Middle and Far East as emerging markets fuel demand. Trade levels needs to be brought under control without stimulating poaching. Welfare issues like dehydration and suffocation in cramped transport crates need to be  addressed. Africa is just now waking up to the reality that we have been taken advantage of for hundreds of years. The new statesmen of Africa understand the position of the continent – we have everything the world needs… We must support visionary leaders that guard natural resources and develop partnerships to better protect wildlife populations across borders. We are already seeing border fences dropping to accommodate “trans-frontier parks and conservation areas”. The growing perception that Africa’s grand wild places like the Serengeti, Okavango, Congo, Chobe, and Kruger are part of our global identity, national pride and natural heritage will save these wildernesses. African grey parrots are found in millions of homes around the world and should be considered our most important ambassadors…

Brown-headed parrots with their wings broken being fed rotten corn at a market in Mozambique. Parrots treated like this before a commercial flight would be very likely to die. (Steve Boyes/World Parrot Trust Africa)

It appears that this little brown-headed parrot was wild-caught and then left in this cage by itself outside a nursery. Is it ethical to do this to a wild parrot? Some people say that they are saving these parrots from forests that cannot support them? (Bridget Davidtsz/Cape Parrot Project)

Young woman selling Madagascar lovebirds at a market. Trade in wild-caught birds is a clear and present threat to their forest biodiversity. (Mark Brown/University of KwaZulu-Natal)

Please join the Wild Bird Trust page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to receive all wild bird photo updates and news from our research and conservation projects in the field. Submit your own photos and become part of this important public awareness campaign to bring the magic of wild birds to the world. Prepare to be blown away every week… The Wild Bird Trust was founded in South Africa in August 2009 with the primary objective of keeping birds safe in the wild. The trust aims to encourage the use of flagship endangered bird species as “ecosystem ambassadors” in their indigenous habitat. The trust focusses on linking ordinary people with conservation action in the field through innovative marketing campaigns and brand development. Saving Africa’s birds is going to take a determined effort from all of us.

“African Grey Mafia” Threatens Persistence of Grey Parrots in the Wild?

African grey parrots are the most populous non-human Africans outside of Africa… These charismatic parrots are our most important ambassadors, charming people around the world with vocabularies of up to 200 words and advanced cognitive abilities. For at least 50 years, grey parrots have been among the most internationally-traded wild birds on earth. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) trade records and the most up-to-date research estimate that more than 4 million grey parrots have been captured for the wild-caught bird trade, for their feathers and heads, or simply for bushmeat. Local extinctions have occurred throughout their range with grey parrots disappearing from forests in Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo-Brazzaville, Central African Republic, and elsewhere in central and West Africa. We are removing this iconic parrots from the map of Africa by capturing an estimated 21% of the global population every year. Why, in 2009, did South Africans import just over 5,000 wild-caught grey parrots from the DRC and then export over 25,000 grey parrots in the same year? Why do we need so many wild-caught African grey parrots when we can breed them so effectively? 

Please listen to this interview with Boyd Matson about the unethical and unsustainable trade in wild-caught African grey parrots on National Geographic Weekend in November 2011 (photos and video provided by the World Parrot Trust and PASA)… 

African grey parrots feeding in the wild. © Diana May. All rights reserved. Source: World Parrot Trust – http://www.parrots.org

Stressed out and mistreated grey parrots being unpacked from crates at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

Confiscated, wild-caught grey parrots in their own faeces being unpacked at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon. These parrots live for 60-80 years, have advanced cognitive abilities and complex social interactions, and should be treated with the respect and care they deserve. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

African grey parrots being prepared for market by local traders… (Bruce Wilson/Cape Parrot Project)

How many wild-caught bird trade are traded internationally every year?

In 1975, an mind-boggling estimated 7.5 million wild-caught birds were traded around the world. Thousands upon thousands of birds, reptiles, fish and wildlife at international airports, ports and borders resulted in CITES and by the 1990s estimated global trade had come down to less than 5 million wild birds per year. Over recent decades trade figures have dropped due to the halt on wild-caught bird imports into the European Union and the tightening of international laws controlling the wildlife trade. To put today’s global trade in wild-caught birds, which stands at 1-2 million per annum, an estimated 750 million chickens, ducks, turkeys and other poultry are traded internationally each year. The modern world owes a huge debt to birds and a great way of paying this back is protecting wild birds from the wild-caught bird trade. As can se seen in this series of photographs, the wild birds always lose out and this needs to change…

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Photos courtesy of World Parrot Trust

Why use wild-caught African grey parrots that are potentially diseased?

People around the world associate parrots with cages and do not instantly visualize them flying free, high above the tree canopy in large, squawking flocks. Budgies and cockatiels are the most popular pet birds on earth followed by the grey parrot. We are now very good at breeding all three and do not need to rely on wild populations. The only problem is that the commercial bird breeding business plan today is better suited to short-lived, small-bodied parrots and finches, not grey parrots that live for up to 80 years and take a long time before they start breeding. Budgie and cockatiel breeders are so successful that wild-caught budgies and cockatiels traders cannot compete with them. As a well-known aviculturalists says: “You can breed cockatiels in a shoebox almost right away.” The European Union banned the importation of wild-caught birds after a few scares with H5N1 avian influenza appearing at airports in imported wild-caught birds, so there is a very strong food security and animal health argument for banning the trade in wild-caught birds around the world. H5N1 cost billions of dollars to bring under control and destroyed many local economies based on the poultry industry. Why then do we risk importing wild-caught grey parrots?

Grey parrots only start breeding at about 10 years old and need to be parent-raised for several years after hatching. Veterinary bills, housing costs, and good quality food over 10 years costs a huge amount of money. This makes using 10-year-old captive-bred grey parrots in commercial breeding facilities very difficult. This is not to saw that dedicated aviculturalists do not establish breeding facilities that sustainably supply grey parrot chicks at low prices to local and international markets. As a result of easy, cheap, legal access to wild-caught grey parrots in South Africa, “bird mills” have sprung up everywhere that use hundreds of wild-caught breeding pairs to produce thousands upon thousands of eggs and pre-weaned chicks for export. Healthy wild parrots are captured in tropical forests in the DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon and elsewhere, transported to markets, sexed and selected by veterinarians, and then sold to importers. Middlemen then sell shipments of 500-1,000 grey parrots for $60,000-100,000. This initial capital outlay is a fraction of the costs over 10 years to raise a grey parrot for breeding. All a misguided entrepreneur needs is a simple breeding facility and they have a lucrative grey parrot export business on their hands. In South Africa, organized crime has taken over the grey parrot export industry and have established global syndicates linked to Singapore, USA, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bahrain, Philippines and Taiwan. With the criminals has come a well-financed lobby to protect the trade in wild-caught birds and the rapid decay in the overall standards and practices in the South African avicultural industry.

A view into the hell that these “Near Threatened” grey parrots have to go through before being quarantined for months and then condemned to a shortened life in a “bird mill”. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

Grey parrots make wonderful companions and can become a member of the family. (Karen Grace/Cape Parrot Project)

Confiscated, wild-caught African grey parrots at the Lwiro Primate Sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

Grey parrot that has been neglected. Is this a suitable fate for a very intelligent, wild-caught bird? (Laura Tomini/Cape Parrot Project)

“African Grey Mafia”

A small group of fraudsters and smugglers, the “African Grey Mafia” have dominated the trade in parrots and monkeys in South Africa for the past two decades. This trade is conservatively valued at more than US$50 million per year. Foreign currency profits are often re-invested into the importation of wild-caught endangered species such as Scarlet macaws (through the Philippines) and cockatoos (through New Zealand). In 2007, Phillipus Fourie was busted by customs officials at Auckland International Airport with 44 endangered cockatoo eggs hidden in special compartments sewn into a vest. In 2008, another young South African attempted to smuggle hundreds of rare Madagascan chameleons, snakes, lizards and frogs in his jacket and luggage. We do not have much left in our forests, oceans, grasslands and wetlands… The only remedy in Africa or anywhere else for that matter is to halt all further trade in wild-caught birds and find alternative livelihoods for local communities previously dependent on this trade. The days of being blindly pro-trade are over, the wild-caught bird trade is no longer a viable source of income for remote rural communities. Most  legitimate aviculturalists that do not use wild-caught birds and parrots as breeding stock have had to become non-commercial breeders, as they cannot match the low prices of the syndicates that often avoid customs and VAT to increase their margins. The message to the South African government is clear… Halt the wild-caught bird trade in South Africa and support the development of a sustainable avicultural industry that does not rely on wild-caught birds…

Excessive import levels and the death of 687 grey parrots on a commercial flight from Johannesburg to Durban on Christmas Eve in 2010 resulted in a moratorium of the issuance of CITES import permits for wild-caught grey parrots. The exponential growth in the use of wild-caught grey parrots in “bird mills” in South Africa has ended, but many facilities continue to operate on smallholdings and farms far away from law enforcement that use smuggled, wild-caught parrots and monkeys. It seems everything we do simply drives this lucrative business opportunity further underground. When it became too difficult to import wild-caught grey parrots by air into South Africa, we started getting reports of grey parrots being smuggled by road from Namibia and by foot from Mozambique into South Africa. Parrots hidden with plastic toys or motor parts, and in amongst fresh produce. In April 2011, a military petrol on the border between South Africa and Mozambique heard parrots screeching at midnight in the remote bush along the border fence, They discovered four barefoot Mozambican nationals carrying 4 crates with 50-60 grey parrots in each. The border patrol gave chase and one crate of 60 parrots disappeared into the cool night air, while the rest were confiscated and quarantined for 6 months before being surrendered to the Mozambican authorities, who then gave the parrots to the suspected smuggler. This is going to turn into a war unless global leaders step in to control this unsustainable, unjustifiable and unethical trade in one of our planet’s treasures, Africa’s grey parrot…

Grey parrots flying away from a communal drinking point. These are most often the capture sites for hundreds upon hundreds of these parrots using nylon snares and fishing nets. (Diana May)

Confiscated, wild-caught grey parrots at the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon. (World Parrot Trust / PASA)

The way forward…

The upgrading of the two grey parrot species to CITES Appendix I has been undermined every times by the perception that sustainable harvesting of grey parrots is the only way to effectively conserve them. This notion is somewhat counter-intuitive and anachronistic, but the new generation of statesman and conservationists in Africa and around the world are realizing this. South Africa has been allowed to become a global hub for the wild-caught bird trade over the last few decades. The trade in wild-caught birds in Africa has always been about exploitation. In 1992 the United States banned the importation of wild-caught birds due to concerns around disease and commitments to biodiversity conservation. Australia, Canada, and New Zealand followed shortly after and the European Union banned this trade in 2006. Since 1992 the South African avicultural and bird export industries have boomed and now we have Africans to blame for the exploitation of Africa’s natural heritage. New hubs are springing up in the Middle and Far East as emerging markets fuel demand. Trade levels needs to be brought under control without stimulating poaching. Welfare issues like dehydration and suffocation in cramped transport crates need to be  addressed. Africa is just now waking up to the reality that we have been taken advantage of for hundreds of years. The new statesmen of Africa understand the position of the continent – we have everything the world needs… We must support visionary leaders that guard natural resources and develop partnerships to better protect wildlife populations across borders. We are already seeing border fences dropping to accommodate “trans-frontier parks and conservation areas”. The growing perception that Africa’s grand wild places like the Serengeti, Okavango, Congo, Chobe, and Kruger are part of our global identity, national pride and natural heritage will save these wildernesses. African grey parrots are found in millions of homes around the world and should be considered our most important ambassadors…

Brown-headed parrots with their wings broken being fed rotten corn at a market in Mozambique. Parrots treated like this before a commercial flight would be very likely to die. (Steve Boyes/World Parrot Trust Africa)

It appears that this little brown-headed parrot was wild-caught and then left in this cage by itself outside a nursery. Is it ethical to do this to a wild parrot? Some people say that they are saving these parrots from forests that cannot support them? (Bridget Davidtsz/Cape Parrot Project)

Young woman selling Madagascar lovebirds at a market. Trade in wild-caught birds is a clear and present threat to their forest biodiversity. (Mark Brown/University of KwaZulu-Natal)

Please join the Wild Bird Trust page on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to receive all wild bird photo updates and news from our research and conservation projects in the field. Submit your own photos and become part of this important public awareness campaign to bring the magic of wild birds to the world. Prepare to be blown away every week… The Wild Bird Trust was founded in South Africa in August 2009 with the primary objective of keeping birds safe in the wild. The trust aims to encourage the use of flagship endangered bird species as “ecosystem ambassadors” in their indigenous habitat. The trust focusses on linking ordinary people with conservation action in the field through innovative marketing campaigns and brand development. Saving Africa’s birds is going to take a determined effort from all of us.

Parrots Have Personal Preferences in Music, but All Despise Dance Music

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Scientists studied the listening preferences of two African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus), a popular pet bird species, and found that while one parrot preferred soothing “middle of the road” music, the other bird liked more upbeat trendy pop music, according to The Telegraph.

Both parrots liked to listen to rock and folk music and “danced” to the tunes by bobbing their heads and legs. Apparently, the birds enjoyed these genres to such an extent that they even “sang along” by squawking.

However, neither of the birds appreciated electronic dance music, and listening to the genre left both parrots visibly distressed.

“The birds clearly showed preferences. One preferred the rhythmic and one preferred the classical,” said Dr. Franck Péron of the University of Lincoln, according to The Telegraph.

“There is no trend for the birds. Even if they are in the same place hearing the same things, they do not prefer the same music,” he explained.

Initially, researchers had three parrots in the study, Leo, Shango and Zoé, listen to a series of “rhythmic” songs by artists like U2, UB40 and Joan Baez. Researchers said that all of the birds appeared to enjoy the music and were all observed dancing and singing along, and making animated calls and human words.

When researchers played the birds Bach compositions, the birds appeared to relax by resting and preening themselves.

In a second experiment, the two male parrots, Léo and Shango, were left in a cage with a touch-screen monitor with two large buttons. The birds could press the buttons with their beaks, which would activate a 15-second sound clip of two different songs: either I Don’t Feel like Dancing, by the pop group Scissor Sisters, or the more calming La Petite Fille de la Mer by Vangelis.

Researchers left the touch screens in the birds’ cages for a month, and the parrots were allowed to select the music whenever they wanted. In the end, researchers found that while both parrots liked to listen to both songs, Leo clearly preferred listening to “Scissor Sisters” and Shango mostly chose to listen to “Vangelis”.

Researchers said that between the two, the songs were played more than 1,400 times during the month.

The study found that the birds’ dislike for Dance music by artists like Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers was not discovered until the test conditions. The study accidentally found while researchers were casually listening to their own music within earshot of the birds, the parrots started to scream in a “distressed, scared way”.

“The electronic dance music was not appropriate for them. We had the radio on in the office and when it was a very fast beat, they started to scream; not in a friendly, communicative way but in a distressed, scared way. They seem to like pop music when there is a voice,” Peron explained.

Researchers said that latest findings, soon to be published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Sciences, are useful for people who have parrots as pets. They said pet owner could use touch-screen technology to provide their own “jukeboxes” for the enjoyment of their pet parrots.

Parrots have musical tastes

LINCOLNSHIREParrots have musical tastes, with some preferring classical works and others pop tunes, scientists have found. But the creatures do not like dance music. Researchers monitored the listening preferences of a pair of African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)- a popular pet species, pictured – and found that while one favoured soothing “middle of the road” music, the other opted for more upbeat, modern pop.

Parrots’ hit parade

Parrots’ hit parade

“They are known as great mimics, but now scientists have discovered that parrots also have varied musical tastes – and an intense dislike of dance tunes,” The Sunday Telegraph reports. “Researchers monitored the listening preferences of a pair of African grey parrots … and found that while one favoured soothing ‘middle of the road’ music, the other opted for more upbeat, modern pop. Both birds also enjoyed rock and folk music and ‘danced’ along by bobbing their heads and legs. They even ‘sang along’ by squawking. But neither animal appreciated electronic dance music, which left them both distressed.”

Finding ideas in nature

“If you need your work force to generate great new ideas, you might be tempted to have your employees look for options online,” says The Boston Globe. “You’d do better to take away their computers and pack them off to the woods. In a study by psychologists at the University of Kansas and the University of Utah, people who went on a backpacking trip run by Outward Bound – and were banned from using electronics the whole time – performed 50-per-cent better on a test of creative problem-solving after several days out in nature than people who hadn’t yet started the trip.”

Deciphering the buzz

“A British bee lover has developed a system that eavesdrops on hives and analyzes the sound of their buzzing to monitor the colony’s health,” says BBC Focus magazine. “Dr. Huw Evans in Newcastle analyzed the audio signatures of colonies in different states and found that a humming frequency of 250 hertz, for instance, indicates a swarm is imminent. Once the hum is recorded and analyzed, data can be fed back to the keeper on a tablet computer.”

Blame the cellphones

“An Indian village has banned women from using mobile phones, saying the devices have led to an increase in elopements,” The Sunday Times of London reports. “Women in Sunderbari face fines of up to 10,000 rupees [$180] if caught using the devices in public. ‘Mobile phones are debasing the social atmosphere,’ said Manuwar Alam, of the village council. ‘It always gives us a lot of embarrassment when someone asks who has eloped this time. Even married women were deserting their husbands to elope with lovers.’”

No. 1 tongue? Poor English

“German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble admits his English is not the best, but, he notes, he’s not alone,” says United Press International. “‘Badly spoken English is however the most spoken language in the world,’ Schauble said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Schauble recognizes English is the language of choice for multinational corporations and most young people speak it. He said he once suggested that the European Union forgo interpreters and require business to be conducted in English.”

Retro Russians rock on

“A forbidden cultural import during the Cold War, American swing dance and rock ’n’ roll are now seeing a jump in popularity among Russians who embrace the retro Americana,” The Christian Science Monitor reports. “… Dance instructor Olga Moiseeva says she has seen a tenfold hike in the number of Muscovites wanting to twist and shake. Ten years ago, only three pupils would show up to one of her classes. Nowadays she arranges Lindy Hop parties that draw hundreds of dancers. ‘The Lindy Hop is about freedom,’ Moiseeva says. ‘And the music is fantastic. But it’s about more than the dance, it’s about taking classes, competing and, for some, about the cars and the fashion.’”

Thought du jour

“The world gets better every day – then worse again in the evening.”

– Frank (Kin) Hubbard, American humourist (1868-1930)