Special agents from the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today arrested an alleged major smuggler of parrots, capping an intensive three-year undercover investigation into the international and highly profitable illicit trade in exotic birds. Spanning several continents, the effort involved law enforcement officials from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Concurrently dozens of search warrants were executed in Florida, California, Illinois, New York, Louisiana, and two foreign countries.
The alleged trafficker, a native of New Zealand, was apprehended in Los Angeles while arranging exotic bird sales.
Simultaneously, agents from New Zealands Customs Service, Department of Conservation, and Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, as well as law enforcement officials from the Australian Customs Service and National Parks and Wildlife agency served warrants. In all, hundreds of live birds were seized as well as large quantities of records.
"The international wildlife trade is estimated at over $5 billion dollars annually," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director John Turner as he announced the end of the covert phase of the investigation. "Legal commerce in wildlife is marred by a significant illegal marketing network. In fact, estimates indicate that 25 percent of this trade may be illegal.
"The Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to halting illegal wildlife trade. The time has come to stop this practice which threatens the very survival of these beautiful birds in the wild."
Out of some 330 species of parrots, 23 are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Additionally, trade in all species of parrots except cockatiels and budgerigars (parakeets) is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). With 112 member nations, including the United States, CITES is the worlds most widely accepted conservation agreement.
Many species of parrots are also further protected by the laws of the country in which they are found. In Australia and New Zealand, for example, all commercial export of wild parrots is illegal.
During the investigation, Service special agents documented elaborate schemes designed to disguise the native origins of large quantities of parrots worth millions of dollars. This laundering involved smuggling birds out of many African nations where they are protected and into other African countries where they were given false documentation. These countries then exported them to the United States, the worlds largest importer of wild-caught birds.
The investigation also revealed that rare and valuable native Australian cockatoos were smuggled into New Zealand, falsely documented as captive-bred wildlife, and then exported to the United States and other countries. Various species of Australian cockatoos may command prices of $10,000 to $20,000 per bird on the United States market. Agents also encountered a flourishing market in fertile psittacine (parrot) eggs and extensive smuggling between the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Illegal commerce in wild-caught birds is enormously profitable. For example, an African grey parrot, the coveted talking bird made famous in literature, film, and on television, sells in the United States for about $700. Smuggled from the United States, this same bird would have a price tag of $5,000 in Australia and New Zealand. Breeding pairs command even higher prices.
"The attractive and colorful parrots are highly prized by people who want exotic pets. But, to ensure the health of these species in the wild, we must understand the international ramifications of our decisions and demands as consumers," Turner said.
Further investigations also revealed the existence of an extensive pipeline through which thousands of Amazon parrots are smuggled into the United States annually from Mexico. Also, many other Latin American species of parrots were discovered to have been unlawfully imported.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov
