The banning of the trade in wild birds was one of the ornithological highlights, for us at least, of Tony Blair's period of being Prime Minister.  I have no idea whether it gets a mention in his book, I doubt it, but it was important to us.

The spread of bird flu (or avian influenza) was certainly an important factor in persuading EU countries that shipping cageloads of birds around the world might not be a great idea.  A dead parrot is not just for Monty Python, it's also for advocacy.

This graph is courtesy of the World Parrot Trust (to whom many thanks) and appears to show a very dramatic reduction in trade in wild-sourced, CITES-listed species. 

Opponents of the ban in trade argued that a ban would just drive the trade underground where it would be even nastier.  We don't think that has happened to any great extent.  The ban has worked and wild bird populations have benefitted as a result.

 

Parents Comment Children
No Data