Will you really be sentenced for raising this kind of parrot?

Colorful, lively and cute parrots with clear voices are now the birds that many people choose as pets. But did you know that among the pet parrots on the market, several common and cheap parrots are actually national second-class protected animals, and buying and selling such parrots is illegal and will be subject to criminal liability.

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This bright and beautiful parrot is actually a protected species

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The parrot above is called Fischeri's lovebird (Agapornis fischeri), native to parts of the United Republic of Tanzania in Africa. This parrot has a bright red beak and a thick white eye circle, and there are also varieties of various colors after artificial cultivation. Due to its lovely appearance and bright feathers, this parrot was captured by humans and used for international trade, which has significantly reduced the number of parrots in Africa. As a result, Fischeri's lovebird was listed in the "IUCN Red List of Endangered Species" formulated by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 1963 and was rated as vulnerable.

Rare species distributed in my country will be included in the "National Key Protected Wildlife List" for protection. Since Fischbacher's parakeet is not distributed in my country, my country treats it as a national second-class protected animal in accordance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. As a supplement to the "National Key Protected Wildlife List", it also protects many species that are not distributed in my country but are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is different from the List of National Key Protected Wildlife. The standards set are based on the endangered status of the species in the original distribution country, rather than whether these species can be stably bred in captivity. Although Fischbacher's parrots are treated as Class II protected animals in my country, they have actually been stably bred in captivity long ago. Therefore, as long as they obtain the state-issued artificial breeding license and related procedures, the farms that produce artificial breeding are allowed to buy, sell and operate.

Similar to Fischer's parakeet, many pets that are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species have achieved stable artificial breeding. Those from the wild or those that are not legally bred are treated as first- and second-class protected animals by the state, such as the monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) that originates from South America and is bred in large numbers abroad.

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There are actually more than one case of people breaking the law by breeding and protecting parrots.

On September 16, 2020, the Xuzhou police seized 44 Fischer's parrots at the bus station. Following this line, the Xuzhou police found the seller of these parrots, Wang from Shangqiu, Henan. Another 147 farmed Fischer's parrots were seized from Wang's home. According to the relevant provisions on animal protection in the Criminal Law, Wang who sold more than 10 parrots will face more than ten years in prison. In the eyes of ordinary people, Wang should be a villain who took risks to hunt wild animals for huge profits, but in fact, the Fischer's parrots sold by Wang were not obtained through poaching in the wild.

This is not the only similar criminal case. At the end of April 2018, Qiu bought four parrots and eight mynah birds at a flower and bird shop in Nanchang. On May 2, the police took Qiu away on suspicion of illegally purchasing and selling endangered wild animals. On December 3, 2021, Wang was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan by the Lingcheng District People's Court of Dezhou City, Shandong Province for illegally purchasing and selling monk parrots.

Parrots are good-looking and can imitate human speech. They have long been favored by the breeding industry | Tuchong Creative

But in fact, in Shangqiu, Henan, parrot breeding has long become a local pillar industry, and its artificial breeding of parrots has a history of nearly 30 years. According to statistics at the beginning of 2021, there are about 934 parrot breeders in Shangqiu City, with a parrot stock of more than 1 million. More than 70% of the country's small ornamental parrots come from Shangqiu.

In recent years, the frequent occurrence of "parrot cases" has led to a decline in the desire to buy parrots across the country. Parrots in Shangqiu are unsalable, and breeders who cannot afford to feed them can only release parrots. However, the released farmed parrots do not have the ability to survive in the wild and cannot survive in the wild. Measures to protect parrots may instead cause many parrots to die abnormally.

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The formalization of protected parrot farming does not mean that all wild animals should be the same

Fortunately, since last year, the treatment of this kind of breeding of state-protected parrots has become more reasonable. Most of the "parrot cases" from artificial breeding have been acquitted or the local procuratorate has decided not to prosecute. The State Forestry and Grassland Administration issued a "Letter on Properly Solving Issues Related to Artificial Breeding of Parrots", requiring the Henan Provincial Forestry Bureau to issue management certificates to breeders of four types of artificially bred parrots, including Fischbacher's Lovebirds and Monk Parakeets, to formalize breeding. In the near future, we will be able to buy these beautiful parrots through formal channels.

The story of the parrot seems to be about to have a happy ending, but the same operations cannot be simply applied to the trafficking of other wild animals, which still needs to be strictly prohibited. Why is this?

In fact, there are not many wild animals that can be fully artificially bred like these parrots. And even if they can be bred, it will cost a lot for greedy people. How can you make money quickly without any investment? Therefore, most of the rare wild animals that are trafficked, even if they are claimed to be "bred", are often hunted in the wild.

Most of the wild animals sold are poached | Tuchong Creative

Poaching in the wild will bring many problems. Often, when a rare bird or animal appears on the market, several or even dozens of them have already lost their lives in the previous hunting and circulation links. This will cause the number of the species in the wild to decline rapidly. If not handled properly, it may even disrupt the local ecological balance. In the most serious cases, it may cause the collapse of the local ecological environment.

For buyers, captured animals will be frightened and stressed when they are captured, and it is difficult for them to live a normal life. Buying them as pets is a bad experience. Moreover, wild animals are not domesticated and are difficult for people to get close to. Their living habits are likely to greatly interfere with the normal life of their owners. In addition, wild animals often carry germs or parasites, which can also pose a threat to the health of buyers.

In short, in order to avoid all kinds of trouble, you must buy pets through formal channels and refuse to buy wild animals. As for farmed animals like Fischer's lovebirds, they will gradually become legal to buy as regulations improve, so just be patient and wait.

Author | Xu Jiaxian

Review | Huang Chengming, Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Editor | Jiang Fan

Editor | Ding Zong

This article is produced by the "Science Rumor Refutation Platform" (ID: Science_Facts). Please indicate the source when reprinting.

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