FINCHforum

Dante's post on trapping inspired me to share this article by Africa Geographic

I am posting this with the intention of creating awareness to the reality of trading in wild caught birds, legal or illegal. It is NOT intended to start a debate on the ethics of keeping wild caught birds. I myself own some wild caught African waxbills, as do a lot of us on this site.

Education is key and I hope this sheds some light on the subject.

http://magazine.africageographic.com/we ... s-of-grey/

Edited to add: While this article refers to parrots, the same applies to all bird species caught for the pet trade

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing Rox. Aviculturists do play a part in wild caught birds. IF we could all aim to breed our birds that still rely on wild populations to sustain them, then we can begin to supply domesticated birds. However it will be a global effort.

Rox -- Thanks for sharing!
I couldn't get through the entire thing, to be honest. I found it too upsetting as it resonated with me on a personal level (I worked with a grey who was wild caught. He was the saddest creature. He suffered from such terrible anxiety.)
I was also shocked to read about the super high mortality rates.

I like monotwine's idea of aiming to be more aggressive in breeding the species that are most commonly wild caught. But you're right; it would need to be a global effort.