Government may lift bird import ban
21/05/2008 12:00:19
May 2008. Despite Tony Blairs promise to ban the import of wild birds permanently, the government has recently revealed that the ban may only be temporary. Wildlife Extra (WE) enquired, via our local MP, Bill Wiggins, as to whether there were any plans to extend the import ban to all wildlife, (especially in the loght of the rediculous revelations about rabid dogs being imported from Sri Lanka). This would be highly beneficial to wildlife around the world, and also to the UK's balance of payments as several million would be wiped off our import bill.
Pillaging the world's wildlife is good for wildlife!
However a letter from Joan Ruddock, (Parliamentary Under Secretary - Climate Change, Biodiversity & Waste.) states that "The Government believes that the sustainable trade and importation of animals is a positive benefit to animal species (Eds note. Coral dynamiting, tree felling, wildlife being caught in the wild, put in small, usually completely unsuitable cages and flown around the world, often with fatal results, is beneficial to the species?), as it encourages other countries to recognise their native wildlife as a resource and so to realise the value of the conservation and sustainable management of their wildlife."
Extract from the letter from Tony Blair to the RSPB, 30th November 2006.
The RSPB, along with the RSPCA, and many other conservation groups have been campaigning hard to end the trade of wild birds into Europe. So I thought you and your members would want to know that the Government is to press for the present temporary ban on wild birds being imported into the EU to be extended indefinitely.
As you will know, the commercial importation of wild birds has been halted until the end of this year primarily over fears that the trade could increase the risk of spreading avian flu and other diseases. This continues to be the case.
But it is also true, as the RSPB campaign has graphically demonstrated, that the catching and transportation of birds also causes unacceptable levels of suffering to the birds and can have a damaging impact on their wild populations.
For all these reasons, the UK intends to press other member states and the European Commission to extend indefinitely the ban on the commercial importation of wild birds - with exceptions, as I know the RSPB accepts, only for recognised conservation reasons. We believe that there may be considerable support now from other member states and within the Commission for such a move.
Click here to see the full letter on the Government website.
The letter also states that the ban on the import of wild birds was a European response to the avian influenza outbreak and MAY ONLY BE TEMPORARY.
Have the government changed their policy?
Mr Blair stated that bird flu was a factor, but that "the catching and transportation of birds also causes unacceptable levels of suffering to birds and can have a damaging impact on their wild populations." Mrs Ruddock seems to have forgotten, or to have changed, the governments stance on this issue.
Ban all wildlife imports
Wildlife Extra urges the government, not just to make the wild bird ban permanent, but to ban the import of all wild animals, including fishes, reptiles, amphibians, insects and mammals, for the same reasons Mr Blair stated about the catching and transportation of wild birds. There can be no justification on the grounds that it is good for the local economies. How does that stand with elephant & rhino poaching, or whaling?
Who benefits from the import trade?
Mostly middle-men in countries where the wildlife is caught, and a few importers and pet merchants in the UK. Certainly not the creatures themselves, nor their local habitat which is often denuded in the search and collection of the species. Dynamite fishing, cutting down trees to get at the inhabitants, digging out subterranean species and trapping are all highly destructive and indiscriminate methods of collection. And even for those animals that survive the collection process, it is estimated that 80% die en-route to their market. Ban the import of all wild animals for the pet trade now, and there will be huge benefits for conservation, not to mention knocking a few million quid off the governments balance of trade deficit at a stroke.
Invasive Species
There are well documented problems from invasive species in many countries around the world, and they are not
going to stop happening. In the last few years Burmese pythons have become established in the Florida Everglades, threatening the local wildlife as well as potentially humans. They were released by people who kept them as pets, but, unsurprisingly, discovered that looking after a 12 foot (or more) python was not an easy matter.
Ring-necked parakeets are now listed as one of the 20 most common birds in London! They became established after being released or escaping as pets. Their population is still growing fast and is estimated to reach 50,000 in the next few years. As the population grows, they will start to have serious consequences for local flora and avi-fauna.
Sign a Petition Against the Import of Wildlife Animals
To sign an E-petition to protest and stop the import of wild animals, click here.
Click here to comment on this story, or to see the full letter.
