When in the Hoi An area, just south of Da Nang, I noticed from time to
time loud speakers on some of the larger houses uttering twittering
noises. I also noted that there were swifts flying around the house but
it took a while to put two and two together.
Eventually I discovered that these houses would have a room in which
edible nest swiftlets were being encouraged to breed. The loudspeakers
were swiftlet attracters. I discovered that this form of bird farming is
common in Vietnam. While there, we saw newspaper reports about several
thousand swiftlets falling dead out of the sky. There was concern about
a new form of bird flu. The result was a large and sudden drop in the
wholesale and retail price of bird's nest stuff.
I understand that there is concern about the impact of swiftlet farming
on wild populations. I am not sure what the specific concerns were.
Despite much effort I remain confused about the species involved.
This link refers to the Malaysian swiftlet farming industry:
http://www.tirokswiftlet.webs.com/diywhatweshouldknow.htm
regards
Con
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