EAZA News 58-9 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

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eaza news 58 2007 20 collection planning EU ban on wild bird imports William van Lint, EAZA Executive Office, Amsterdam, the Netherlands The outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) in different countries in Europe in 2005 and 2006 gave reason for the veterinary authorities in Brussels (SANCO) to implement a temporary bird import ban at that time. This initial import ban was extended several times, partly due to the strong animal welfare lobby which was very active in Brussels. An indefinite import ban was announced by the European Union on i 11 January 2007. The ban has been adopted on the grounds that it will help prevent the spread of Avian Influenza and other diseases. The secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) expressed its disappointment immediately after the official announcement: ‘….“As the ban only concerns the import of wild birds, it risks casting the wrong impression that the international bird trade is not effectively controlled. However, this trade is carefully regulated by the 169 member countries of CITES. The global trade in wild birds has declined from an estimated 7.5 million birds a year in 1975 (when CITES came into effect) to around 1.5 million today. By contrast, the global trade in live domestic poultry involves some 750 million birds a year; this trade, however, is not affected by the EU’s new health-related law as chicken and other poultry are not considered to be ‘birds’ under its terms. ……… While CITES itself does impose trade bans on international trade in specimens of highly endangered species such as sea turtles and the tiger, it recognizes that bans risk creating black markets. By ending legal and tightly managed imports, the EU risks driving the market underground and making it less transparent. It also risks undermining the impoverished communities who depend on the environmentally sustainable trade in birds and removing their economic incentives for protecting bird habitat. The expert report that prompted the new EU legislation did not address the ban’s expected impact on nature conservation in the source countries. Nevertheless, it concluded that "Some local communities in countries of origin maintain bird habitat in order that they can catch wild birds for export and derive a significant part of their income from such sales. These practices can have a beneficial effect on bird conservation, even if birds are removed from wild populations and there are bad effects on bird welfare".’ Though zoos are exempted from the ban, there are still a lot of uncertainties and concerns about it. SANCO (veterinary authorities in Brussels): “For zoos the new regulation does not change anything. They are exempt from the scope of the regulation on the basis of Article 2 (d). Certain categories of birds (birds intended for zoos) are excluded because they are covered by other legislation – namely the Council Directive 92/65/EEC (‘the Balai Directive’ ) and Decisions 2000/666/EC and 2005/759/EC.” EAZA Bird TAGs meeting The concerns and uncertainties about the long-term implications of the current import ban on bird populations in EAZA institutions were the reason for organising a workshop as part of the EAZA Bird TAGs meeting hosted by Vogelpark Avifauna, Alphen a/d Rijn, from 14 to 17 March 2007. The workshop ‘EU wild bird import ban and the future of EAZA bird collections’ was facilitated by Kristin Leus of CBSG Europe. Over fifty participants from all over Europe participated in the workshop. The workshop started by looking at developments of populations of several species of birds, and projections for their future. Does no import or reduced import cause problems for bird populations within EAZA institutions? Are these bird populations sustainable? Do EAZA institutions generate enough birds through breeding? Examples from the EAZA Pigeon and Dove TAG (see figure 1) and the EAZA Galliformes TAG showed that even without an import ban we are not able/willing to sustainably manage an important part of our bird populations: EAZA Galliformes TAG (survey 2003 compared to 1995/98 ): - 26 populations decreased - 5 populations remained stable - 12 populations increased EAZA Pigeon and Dove TAG (based on EAZA data sets from ISIS): - 3 populations went extinct - 13 populations decreased - 13 increased or were stable Figure 1 EAZA Pigeon and Dove TAG: population development of RCP species (2006) 1* = sustainable
photo eaza executive office In contrast to what one would expect, even a number of managed programmes (EEPs and ESBs) in both TAGs are not sustainable. In conclusion, EAZA and its members can not lean back, but have to be proactive to prevent losing important elements of its bird collections. Short- and long-term actions Workshop participants identified the following five themes as being the most urgent: acquisition, collection planning, awareness, husbandry and legislation. A working group was established for each theme to further define the problem and to come up with possible solutions. All workshop participants really were involved, and put much effort into getting satisfying results. The outcomes of the five working groups were presented at the end of the day. Some important conclusions were that EAZA is not pro-actively involved in the development of EU regulations, that there is a lack of willingness to invest collection planning in birds/bird collections and that regional collection plans are not sufficiently implemented at institutional level. Concrete actions were discussed and approved by all workshop participants. The acquisition working group agreed upon establishing an EAZA Bird Acquisition Working Group that will look into non-EAZA bird collections and import policies. The collection planning working group suggested actions to improve the implementation of regional collection plans and to improve the effectiveness of (programme) species. A more constructive use of the EAZA website, EAZA News and other media to achieve this goal were strongly recommended for both EAZA member institution staff and TAG chairs. Sharing information through the EAZA website was also promoted by the husbandry working group. Both the awareness and legislation working group concluded that actions were needed to inform the EAZA Executive Committee and Council that lobbying/representation in Brussels needs more attention. Informing decision makers within EAZA institutions about the current status was another action point of the awareness working group. These and several other actions, both short- and long-term, will form the basis for further steps. Some actions were immediately completed; a letter was prepared to the EAZA Executive Committee, with a plea for more lobbying in Brussels on behalf of the EAZA membership, and a workshop on the future of bird collections has been scheduled for the EAZA Annual Conference in Warsaw, Poland, September 2007. A report with all workshop results will be ready shortly and will be made available to the EAZA membership. Although the future of bird collections in EAZA member institutions proved to be a very complex subject, the workshop did make several steps forward! To be continued… • Help needed with European guenon survey The EAZA Old World Monkey TAG has decided to survey the population of forest guenon species (Cercopithecus spp.) in order to update its regional collection plan and consequently to decide whether breeding programmes for these species should be established. The species due to be included in this survey are C. mona, C. campbelli, C. nictitans, C. petaurista, C. ascanius, C. cephus, C. albogularis and C. mitis. All European zoos that have registered their guenons in ISIS will be contacted for additional information shortly. The TAG is however aware that guenons are often kept in small zoos that are not (yet) a member of ISIS. Consequently, please contact Jan Vermeer (j.vermeer@la-vallee-des-singes.fr) at La Vallée des Singes (Romagne) when you have information on guenons that are not in ISIS (both in EAZA and non-EAZA zoos or sanctuaries). photo jan vermeer/la vallée des singes eaza news 58 2007 21
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EAZA News 58-9 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

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