Parrot imports plan in war on smugglers

By EUGENE BINGHAM

Ending a ban on importing exotic parrots is being considered as one way of undermining the black market of smuggled birds.

No legal shipments of caged parrots have been made to New Zealand since the mid-1990s because of concerns about the possible spread of disease.

But the illegal trade in parrots has continued - last month two men were jailed for smuggling parrot eggs into the country. Roy Nichols and Scott Piggott were accused of organising a courier to bring eggs back from Thailand, strapped to her body.

Breeders have asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to allow legal controlled shipments of eggs and birds, destroying the smugglers' market.

MAF's national manager for surveillance and response, Allen Bryce, said the Government supported the idea.

"It would be preferable to have a method of introducing birds legally and managing the risks rather than a situation where people might be resorting to smuggling because there was no legal method," said Mr Bryce.

But while it was under consideration, there were significant hurdles to overcome.

"What is required is a scientific risk analysis and the difficulty is that not all the science is available. That risk analysis needs to be prioritised against a whole heap of other things that people need to bring into New Zealand," he said.

The vice-president of the Aviculture Society, Graham Butler, said breeders would like to see the resumption of small shipments of birds through quarantine facilities.

"At the moment, you can bring all sorts of animals into the country but if you mention parrots ... ," he said.

Some breeders believe that unless legal importations are resumed the demand for smuggled birds will increase.

One parrot owner, who did not want to be named, said that without fresh blood the captive population would collapse because the gene pool was too shallow.

"Some species common in pet shops won't be around much longer," he said.

"Because of the prohibition, they are creating a black market - it's more profitable than drug smuggling."

Mr Bryce said it seemed to be an accepted fact that there was a criminal element within the bird industry.

"Like everything, there are sure to be many people who would not dream of breaking the law but you have got to realise that in that industry if you do have smuggling there's a risk of importing diseases we don't want."

Herald feature: Environment