750 African Greys die on Durban flight

[Game Warden]

Reports www.news24.com.

More than 750 African Grey parrots worth about R2m died on a flight from Johannesburg to Durban. The news has caused shock waves among conservationists, bird breeders and those involved in the aviation industry. The parrots died on December 24 on a flight operated by 1time.

To read the full article click here.

[Atravelynn]

At first I thought this might be some kind of massive illegal smuggling, but it was not. How sad

[inyathi]

Everything may have been legal and above board at the South African end but one has to wonder about the DRC end of this trade. How much law and order is the there and is there anyone actually policing this trade?

[Bugs]

Everything may have been legal and above board at the South African end but one has to wonder about the DRC end of this trade. How much law and order is the there and is there anyone actually policing this trade?

 

Well there are a number of questions about procedures. Number of birds per box, Taxation issues etc. There is also a possibility that some illegally captured Greys were in this shipment.

 

Bottom line, is that the wild population cannot be harvested in such numbers. It is not sustainable, and many wild populations are gone, forcing the hunters to go deeper into the Forrest to drain other populations.

 

Pet owners want only hand reared Greys. Its the breeders who need the wild ones, as they breed better than habituated parrots. The breeders know exactly what they are doing and are fully aware that Grey numbers in Congo are under threat, they are just interested in a quick buck.

[Atravelynn]

Pet owners want only hand reared Greys. Its the breeders who need the wild ones, as they breed better than habituated parrots.

 

That explains a lot.

[Bugs]

I must learn how to embed a video

Please see this link for a clip about the capture of African Greys.

 

Edited January 21, 2011 by dikdik