The Songbird Crisis

We consume nature not just for sutenance, but also for our own pleasure

One extreme cases of this is the songbird trade in South East Asia, where entire species are thretened with extinction due to an ever growing demand for birds to keep in one of the most densely populated areas on the planet.

Songbirds in South East Asia are threatened due to an unsustainable trade where birds are kept as pets or used in singing birds contests.

• more than 45'000 live birds were seized from the illegal trade between 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia.
• In January 2021 alone, more than 11'000 birds were seized (to know more read this)

We contacted Simon Bruslund, co-founder of the Silent Forest Group, an organization within EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria), ,   that aims at raising awareness the public and zoos regarding the songbird crisis in South East Asia. Simon tells us more about what's behind this trade and what can be done to limit its impact on some of the most unique bird species on Earth.

 

Parco Natura Viva hosts one of the birds that have been affected the most by this trade, the Bali Myna, highly demanded due to its stunning beauty and for its singing abilities. 

All the individuals remaining in the wild derive from reintroduction attempts that have often failed due to the rapidity with which poachers manage to collect them. 
Thanks to the coordinated action of zoo, the captive population counts more than 1000 birds. This number allows us to have an "insurance" population until the situation in the wild is less daunting for the species.
 
Parco Natura Viva, in collaboration with other European zoos, took part ion the Silent Forest campaign which aimed at heightening the importance of conservation of songbirds in South East Asia by collecting funds to finance  in situ research and awareness campaigns in the native countries.

To learn more about this, check the campaign website www.silentforest.eu