Trafficking of wild-caught birds is devastating no matter how you look at it. The birds lose their freedom at best, their lives at worst. The eco-system loses valuable members. Everyone loses the joy of seeing and hearing wild birds flying free in their native homes. Trafficking happens because there are people who need to earn money to feed their families and people who are willing to pay them to capture wild birds. To stop it, we need to offer these people other alternatives for gainful, honest employment so they leave the wild birds alone. This is where eco-tourism can help. When we spend our tourist $$ by supporting local communities, they no longer need to capture these birds. The birds become more valuable left in the wild so they attract eco-tourists.
Let’s have a look at just how damaging the wild-caught bird trade is with this video found on the World Parrot Trust’s Fly Free page.
Biologist Juliana Machado Ferreira, a TED Senior Fellow, talks about her work helping to save birds and other animals stolen from the wild in Brazil. Once these animals are seized from smugglers, she asks, then what? – See more at: http://www.parrots.org/flyfree/about-the-wild-bird-trade.html#sthash.KrtmN54x.dpuf