South Africa has become the major conduit in Africa for the international trade in wild birds. Now concerned conservationists want to put a stop to it by trying to follow Europe's example and getting the trade in wild birds completely outlawed on the continent.
Apparently, the major source of the wild-bird trade in Africa is Tanzania. Not only its own birds get transferred to South Africa but, because of its slack controls, it has also become the preferred export hub for birds from other countries.
One of the most over-traded is the grey parrot from the tropical forests of West and Central Africa, which is favoured for its beauty and its exceptional ability to mimic the human voice. Though not yet considered endangered, BirdLife International says its formerly large numbers are declining rapidly as a result mainly of trapping for the wild-bird trade.
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The impact of the legal trade in all kinds of wild birds is vastly compounded by the ravages of the equally lucrative and even crueller illegal trade. The influential international partnership of birding bodies says that, together, they are contributing to the threatened status of many species, in particular parrots.
Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, the executive director of BirdLife South Africa, says South Africa is the preferred transit country for wild birds because of its perceived First World status.
"We have the infrastructure - sophisticated international airports and harbours with all the facilities needed. We have the credentials, including Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) accreditation, which allows for ready issuing of proper permits. We have an exceptionally large number of wildlife traders who can do the job. Our whole system lends itself to this kind of trade," he says.
He paints a grim picture of the numbers and the conditions in which wild birds are finding their way into South African pet shops and homes, or which are passing through, often having to languish in quarantine cages, on their way elsewhere in the world.
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