Every year thousands of parrots and other birds and animals are illegally poached from their nests or taken from their native homes and habitats. Some baby parrots are so young they are not able to see or hear what is happening around them. Trappers take nestlings in hopes of a quick sale, often neglecting their need for heat or nutrition. Many die before they are even sold.
Smugglers do not treat animals humanely. Survivors are usually sold, but many birds die during transport, most often due to necessary concealment from law enforcement. Illegal trapping and smuggling is one aspect of the bird trade that MUST be stopped. Any live birds that are confiscated by law enforcement must be handed over to qualified organizations, rehabilitated, and returned to their homes. Aviculture can help…
The American Federation of Aviculture, Inc. has a long history of supporting wild bird conservation and field biology. Our members have dug deep in their pockets and have helped to fund projects spanning many countries and several continents. Today, the focus of conservation is not only on learning more about the species we keep, but it has broadened and we now must turn our attention to the unnecessary devastation of wild bird populations in their native habitats. Smuggling and poaching are taking a toll on many species, even as organized aviculture has closed its doors to importation of wild birds destined to be pets or breeding stock.
The AFA’s “Going Home” program is designed to help assist those professionals in the field that are responsible for hand-feeding, rehabilitation, temporarily housing, or caring for confiscated or abandoned birds. Often local officials will confiscate baby parrots or other species from poachers and turn them over to local NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) or zoos to be raised and returned to the wild. AFA and its members can help. We can be there to teach local people what we have learned through the practices of aviculture. We can send food supplies, hand feeding equipment, or money to be used in the rehabilitation of poached birds, enabling them to be raised to adulthood and released back into the wild where they came from.
Please donate to the AFA 2012 Conservation Fund or become an AFA Conservation Partner and help us all to help the birds we love; birds that have been victimized or stolen by smugglers or poachers. Keep an eye open in your copy of the AFA Watchbird Journal for updates on this important project, and thank you in advance for your donations to this important cause.
AFA Conservation Committee Chair