Law enforcement fails Bolivia's parrots
13-12-2007

In a recently published paper, Asociacion Armonia (BirdLife in Bolivia) monitored the wild birds which passed through a pet market in Santa Cruz between August 2004 to July 2005, and recorded nearly 7,300 individuals of 31 parrot species, of which four were threatened species.

There are four other pet markets in Santa Cruz, all of which may be handling similar numbers of parrots, and Armonia expects that the situation is comparable in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba.

“We believe our study describes only a small proportion of the Bolivian parrot trade, underscoring the potential extent of the illegal pet trade and the need for better Bolivian law enforcement”, said Armonia’s Executive Director, Bennett Hennessey.

In fact, Bolivian Environmental Law states that all persons involved in trade, capture and transportation without authorization of wild animals will suffer a two-year prison sentence together with a fine equivalent to 100% of the value of the animal. Bolivia has ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This means Bolivia has agreed to control international trade in species listed on CITES Appendix II, such as Blue-fronted Parrot Amazona aestiva, and not export those on Appendix I, such as the Bolivian endemic Red-fronted Macaw Ara rubrogenys (Endangered). [Read on…]