An interesting, and sobering, TRAFFIC report on wild bird exports from
the Solomon Islands....
http://www.traffic.org/home/2012/7/17/solomon-islands-at-centre-of-captive-breeding-shenanigans.html
"EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Large numbers of birds, including more than 68 000 wild-caught and
reportedly captive-bred CITES-listed individuals,
were imported from the Solomon Islands in the 2000s. The vast majority
were imported by Malaysia and Singapore and
often re-exported, particularly in the case of Singapore. In terms of
species composition, there were a few species native
to the Solomon Islands, however the majority (77%) were non-native
species from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
13 736 individuals of these non-native species were exported as
“captive-bred”. However, it is unclear how the parent
stock of these captive-bred birds was acquired as there is no documented
export of these CITES-listed species to the
Solomon Islands. In terms of the number of individual birds involved in
the trade, the majority of exports were species
native to the Solomon Islands (54 793). Of these native bird species, 13
692 were declared as wild-caught and 41 101
were reportedly captive-bred. These large numbers of native and
non-native captive-bred birds suggest the existence of
commercial breeding facilities on the Solomon Islands capable of housing
thousands of breeding pairs.
However, in 2006, CITES reported the Solomon Islands was “not known to
have substantial bird breeding facilities”
and a comprehensive State of the Environment report published by the
Ministry of Environment, Conservation and
Meterology (the Solomon Islands’ CITES Scientific Authority and
Management Authority) in 2008 makes no mention
of captive-breeding or captive-breeding facilities for birds. Meanwhile
the Environment Conservation Division (ECD)
informed TRAFFIC researchers (in litt.) that although there were
registered bird breeders in the islands, they were not
breeding birds, only taking them from the wild. Furthermore, the ECD
wrote: “There are no breeding facilities, only some
confusion with storing facilities. Most of the exported birds were
captured and kept in holding sites only.”
Solomons Cockatoos Cacatua ducorpsii at a location described as a
“breeding facility” in the Solomon Islands in 2011. Over 20 000 of
this native species were imported from the Solomon Islands between
2000-2010; nearly 75% of which were declared as captive-bred.
Given the official confirmation of a lack of suitable bird breeding
facilities in the Solomon Islands, these data lead to the
inescapable conclusion that large numbers of wild-caught birds have been
laundered into the global wildlife trade through
being declared as captive-bred.
Over the past decade, Singapore and Malaysia combined have accounted for
93% of all birds imported from the Solomon
Islands, with significant amounts being re-exported elsewhere, such as
Taiwan. The vast majority, if not all the birds
declared as captive-bred are in fact sourced from the wild. This has
grave implications for maintaining healthy populations
of birds in the wild."
Robin Hide
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