India is home to some 1,200 different species of birds. Despite measures
designed to protect this rich array of bird life by banning the capture
and trade of wild birds, records indicate that as many as 300 of these
species are caught and traded with impunity.
The estimate comes from figures compiled by the Trade Records Analysis
of Flora and Fauna in Commerce (TRAFFIC). These records show that large
seizures of illegally captured wild birds in India number about 30 each
year. In one of the largest recent incidents illustrating the huge scale
of this flourishing black market, more than 10,000 birds were
confiscated at the Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) international airport
in March 2001.
Until 1991, India was one of the largest exporters of wild birds to
international bird markets. Most of the birds traded were parakeets and
munias, especially the rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri), the black-headed munia (Lonchura Malacca) and the red munia (Estrilda amandava). Most of these birds were exported to countries in Europe and the Middle East.
In 1991, however, an amendment to the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act
of 1972 was adopted that bans all trade and trapping of indigenous birds
in the country.
However, "the ban is ineffective, as illegal bird trade flourishes in
almost all cities, towns, and rural hamlets of the country," said
conservation biologist Abrar Ahmed, who worked until recently with
TRAFFIC–India and is now with the premier body for ornithological
research in India, the Bombay Natural History Society, based in Mumbai.
"The trade is not limited to domestic markets," he added. "There is continuous large-scale bird smuggling out of the country."
Ahmed said a project funded by the Indian government discovered that a
number of the wild birds on the Indian subcontinent that are being
widely traded are threatened species, including the swamp francolin (Francolinus gularis), green munia (Estrilda formosa), Finnâs baya (Ploceus megarhynchus), and Shaheen falcon (Falco peregrinus).
The findings indicated that of the many different species being traded,
16 are among the world's most highly endangered, 36 are listed in the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and six
are included on the Red Data list of endangered species compiled by the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN).
Ahmed is now updating a decade-long study on the state of bird trading
across India that he conducted as part of his doctoral thesis. The
initial study, "Live Bird Trade in Northern India," was published by
TRAFFIC–India in 1977, and Ahmed expects to release the enlarged
follow-up report by the end of this year.
Illegal But Widespread Practice
The study entailed following bird trails and documenting the numbers of
birds being captured or traded. During his surveys, Ahmed directly
witnessed more than 200,000 birds that had been caught in the wild by
traders and kept in captivity.
Samar Singh, former secretary-general of the World Wide
fund for Nature–India, called Ahmed's study on trade in India's wild
birds "pioneering in its approach and analysis, since several hitherto
unknown aspects of the trade in birds have been brought out."
Asad R. Rahmani, director of the Bombay Natural History Society, who
supervised Ahmed's study, said: "Ahmed employed his own creative methods
to follow the trappers and traders without raising their suspicion, and
for the first time in India, exact trade routes within and outside the
country have been exposed."
Ahmed determined that wild birds are captured for at least seven
reasons, which helps explain why the practice is so prevalent and
difficult to halt.
Religious Bird-Release Business
Besides the usual practices of trapping birds as pets and for food,
zoological and medicinal purposes, or taxidermy, Ahmed found that
several species of birds that are poor candidates as pets and for
consumption are often captured for the bird-release business.
This is a uniquely Indian religious tradition. Among Hindus, Jains, and a
few other communities, there is a belief that releasing birds that are
held in captivity can purify the soul and relieve personal sins.
On auspicious days, people go and buy these birds from traders for
release. This has led to the development of an entire business around
the religious custom. Species of wild birds that are unsuitable as pets
or food are captured and brought near these holy places for the devout
to purchase and re-release.
He also discovered that some important protected species like the horned
owl were hunted for black magic rituals and sorcery, such as the
practice of certain tribes that use the owls to purify "amulets" during
their street performances.
Finally, although the sport of falconry is now a vanishing art in India,
a large number of wild raptors are caught every year to smuggle to the
Middle East, where falconry is still popular.
Alarming Picture
While the problem of illegal trade in wild birds in India is widely
apparent, Ahmed had a difficult time quantifying the number of birds
affected each year. Yet even his best estimates paint an alarming
picture.
A detailed analysis of water birds offers one example. In a survey Ahmed
conducted in one market where water birds were traded, about a hundred
birds a week were being captured and traded. With the waterfowl season
lasting five months, this means that some 2,000 birds were being sold
from a single marketplace in only one season. There are at least 20 such
markets in northern India alone, which adds up to 40,000 water birds
being sold in a single season.
Accurate figures on the capture of wild birds for local consumption are
impossible to obtain because of the secretive nature of the practice.
It's known, however, that species ranging from pelican to ducks and
waders are caught for consumption.
Added to these huge losses is a large number of bird deaths during
international transit. Ahmed estimates that for every bird that reaches
its final destination, two die en route. The mortality of wild birds
during transit is thought to have increased since the trade ban was put
into effect because of the extra efforts that are made to conceal the
illicit cargo.
"Thanks to the ban, the trade in wild caught birds has now gone covert,"
said Ahmed. "As a sad consequence of it, today the mortality of [wild
captured] birds has gone up even higher."