- A study on the online trade of West African wild birds found that 83 species of wild birds from West Africa were being traded online. These included three species protected under the highly prohibitive CITES Appendix I.
- Many potential buyers for these birds originated from South Asia and the Middle East. While India has strong domestic restrictions on the import of wild birds, the country is prominently involved in the trade, the researchers noted.
- The authors have also raised concerns about the spread of disease upon viewing images of multiple species of birds confined together in small enclosures.
The rose-ringed parakeet is a common pet across many countries. The bright green plumage and range of vocalisations make it one of the most sought-after birds in the pet trade. The birds are native to parts of Africa and Asia, where traders capture them to supply the continual demand.
The rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri) has been so widely trafficked that, in 1976, countries moved to list the species on Appendix III of CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, in an effort to monitor and regulate the trade. But in 2007, CITES delisted the rose-ringed parakeet, along with 115 other wild bird species found in West Africa, possibly in response to the European Union banning the import of wild-caught birds in 2005, experts say. While the EU ban did reduce some trade, experts say that sales are picking up in the Middle East and South Asia, and that the lack of CITES regulations has made it very difficult to monitor the trade, particularly when it comes to birds originating from West Africa. Although India has strong domestic restrictions on the importation of wild birds, it’s prominently involved in the trade, the researchers noted.
“We know that the unsustainable trade in wild birds from the region has caused populations of some species to collapse but for most species there is essentially no monitoring of populations in the wild,” Rowan Martin, a wild bird expert who holds positions at both the Centre of Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology and the World Parrot Trust, told Mongabay in an email. “We simply don’t know if the trade in these species is remotely sustainable and there is no requirement under the CITES convention to monitor wild populations or even report on the quantities being exported.”
‘Cause for greater scrutiny’
A new study published in Bird Conservation International, co-authored by Martin and researchers from the University of Exeter, NOVA University Lisbon, WildCRU at the University of Oxford and the Oxford Martin Program on Wildlife Trade, sheds fresh light on the trade of West African wild birds. By analysing 427 posts on a “popular social media platform,” the researchers found that 83 species of West African birds from 26 avian families were being traded online, and that much of the trade-related engagement came from buyers based in South Asia and the Middle East.
“We were surprised to see countries in South Asia feature so prominently in levels of engagement with West African dealers,” Martin wrote. He added that these findings prompted him and his colleagues to launch a recent investigation with the BBC, which led them to discover how “importers subvert systems for the legal bird trade to import endangered and protected species” such as African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus).
Lead author Alisa Davies of the World Parrot Trust and University of Exeter says that the social media posts also raise concerns about the spread of disease, since images showed different species of birds in close confinement.
“There’s cause for greater scrutiny,” Davies told Mongabay. “We’re concerned there are some species which are appearing in quite high quantities, which might be slower breeders such as turacos … and we’re also concerned about the risk of infectious diseases given that a lot of the birds were kept quite densely packed, and multiple species were being kept in the same enclosures, which creates conditions where you could have disease crossover between different species.”
“Many countries around the world have recently put in place strict measures in response to outbreaks of high pathogenicity Avian Influenza and it beggars belief that elsewhere trade in wild birds is still occurring on this scale,” Martin said. “Do the economic benefits really outweigh the risks?”
Researchers noted that a large proportion of social media users making trade-related comments were from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This suggests there’s a significant demand for African birds in India, and South Asian countries could possibly be part of an important trade route to avoid restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of avian influenza, according to the study.
The trade of wild birds also gives rise to animal welfare issues, and has enabled birds to become invasive species in other parts of the world, according to the study. For instance, the rose-ringed parakeet has now established new populations in 35 countries across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Southern Africa, the study says.
‘The story is not good’
The researchers didn’t identify the social media platform used in their study, but it’s well established that wild birds and other animals are regularly traded on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Whatsapp.
The study found that the most common species being traded online were rose-ringed parakeets, Senegal parrots (Poicephalus senegalus) and yellow-fronted canaries (Crithagra mozambica). However, the researchers also identified nine species listed under CITES, including three protected under the highly restrictive CITES Appendix I, which prohibits nearly all trade. The species protected under CITES Appendix I included the African grey parrot and the Timneh parrot (Psittacus timneh), both of which are considered to be endangered on the IUCN Red List, and the black-crowned crane (Balearica pavonina), which is classified as vulnerable.
Davies said that while the trade in endangered species like African grey parrots would be illegal, most of the other trade activities analysed in the study would be legal. However, the lack of data on wild birds in West Africa makes it difficult to determine whether the trade in a species is sustainable, the researchers said.
“Very little ornithological research takes place in West Africa but where data does exist, the story is not good,” Martin said. “For example populations of Timneh and African Grey parrots have collapsed leading to their listing as globally Endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. The range of Goldfinches, a small and common songbird, has declined by 57% in just 26 years. Several of the species that appear to be traded in significant numbers are large bodied forest species such as hornbills and turacos which are slow to reproduce. They are unlikely to be able to withstand high rates of off-take, especially given the other threats they face from hunting for bushmeat and forest loss.”
Simon Brusland, a bird expert at the Silent Forest Group and member of the IUCN SSC Red List Authority for Birds, who was not involved in this study, called the researchers’ efforts to provide insight into the wild bird trade in West Africa “impressive and inspiring.”
“[I]n the past we have only seen the birds as they arrive at their destinations with new consumer markets around the world and in particularly in Asia,” Brusland told Mongabay in an email. “But we still have comparatively little understanding on the dynamics of the birds leaving West Africa. Obviously the numbers are cause for concern, but was not a big surprise.”
Brusland said other studies have shown that the online trade in individual birds can reach “intolerable numbers” and that a large portion of a population can be impacted by these trading activities.
“In the case of West Africa international trade in high volume [has] been going on for decades and we really have nearly no details how it is affecting wild bird populations but it is very hard to imagine it to be sustainable,” he wrote. “I certainly think we need more details on how the trade affects local populations and more full species assessments across countries is badly needed. I fear that such assessments would put many species in a new light and perhaps another Red List category.”
Addressing the trade
Martin said regulators should do more to “encourage and coerce platforms to take meaningful action” to address the trade of wild species online.
“Although many platforms have strong community standards, these are often not systematically or proactively enforced,” he added.
Davies said there should also be “careful consideration” of whether certain species should be relisted to CITES Appendix III.
“If there’s evidence based on this volume of trade, and based on other information, then it might be a good idea for them to be relisted on Appendix III so that we can understand what’s going on,” she said.
While the trade of wild birds from West Africa is an ongoing issue, Martin said he’s been encouraged to see a decline in public trade activity following the uplisting of African grey parrots and Timneh parrots to CITES Appendix I.
“Whether trade in wild birds continues, will depend on how countries, platforms and regulators respond to the challenge,” he said.
Read more: Exotic animal trade carries risks of disease outbreak and introduction of invasive species
CITATION:
Davies, A., Nuno, A., Hinsley, A., & Martin, R. O. (2022). Live wild bird exports from West Africa: Insights into recent trade from monitoring social media. Bird Conservation International, 1-14. doi:10.1017/s0959270921000551
Davies, A., D’Cruze, N., Senni, C., & Martin, R. O. (2022). Inferring patterns of wildlife trade through monitoring social media: Shifting dynamics of trade in wild-sourced African grey parrots following major regulatory changes. Global Ecology and Conservation, 33, e01964. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01964
This article was first published on Mongabay.com.
Banner image: African grey parrots are a species protected under CITES Appendix I, yet are traded internationally. Photo by wasi1370/Pixabay.
