 |
This 2011 picture shows parrots at what wildlife group TRAFFIC calls a breeding facility in the Solomon Islands. Picture: AFP
Source: AFP
|
MORE than 54,000 wild birds,
including critically endangered species, were laundered through the
Solomon islands into the global wildlife trade between 2000 and 2010.
The birds, classified as "captive-bred" to skirt wildlife
trafficking laws and in the main not native to the islands, were
exported mostly to Singapore and Malaysia from where they were sold to
other parts of the world, wildlife group TRAFFIC said in a report. "Between
2000 and 2010, more than 54,000 birds, mainly parrots and cockatoos,
were imported from the Solomon Islands and declared as captive-bred,"
said the report, launched in Singapore.
"Yet local authorities
confirmed to TRAFFIC that the Solomon Islands is not known to have
substantial bird breeding facilities," it added. TRAFFIC said Singapore and Malaysia accounted for 93 per cent of all birds imported from Solomon Islands between 2000 and 2010. Malaysia however has suspended its bird imports and TRAFFIC is urging Singapore to do the same. "Singapore
should follow Malaysia's lead in suspending bird imports, not only from
the Solomon Islands but anywhere else if there is a lack of clarity as
to their legal origin," said TRAFFIC's Southeast Asia deputy director
Chris Shepherd.
The birds included vulnerable, endangered and
critically endangered species such as the Yellow-crested Cockatoo, which
cannot be traded under the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, or CITES. In addition, a majority of the birds were not native to the Solomon Islands but are found in Indonesia or Papua New Guinea. The
absence of records showing the Solomon Islands had imported the birds
indicated that they had been caught in the wild, TRAFFIC said.
Shepherd said the smugglers were deceiving authorities to gain access to the global pet trade. "Declaring
exported birds as being captive-bred has all the hallmarks of a scam to
get around international trade regulations," he said in the report.
Source: news.com.au
