Illegal trade of the Psittacidae in Venezuela A DA S ÁNCHEZ-MERCADO,MARIANNE A SMÜSSEN,JON P AUL R ODRÍGUEZ L ISANDRO M ORAN,ARLENE C ARDOZO-URDANETA and L ORENA I SABEL M ORALES Abstract Illegal wildlife trade is one of the major threats to trade involves avian species, poached to supply both domes- Neotropical psittacids, with nearly % of species targeted tic and international demand for pets (Rosen & Smith, for the illegal pet trade. We analysed the most comprehen- ). Among birds, Neotropical psittacids are of primary sive data set on illegal wildlife trade currently available for conservation concern, with nearly % of species affected Venezuela, from various sources, to provide a quantitative by poaching for the illegal pet trade (Olah et al., ). assessment of the magnitude, scope and detectability of The data used to measure the magnitude of the illegal pet the trade in psittacids at the national level. We calculated trade in psittacids have come from four main sources: seiz- a specific offer index (SO) based on the frequency of ure records and surveys of trappers (Cantú Guzmán et al., which each species was offered for sale. Forty-seven species ), literature reviews (Pires, ; Alves et al., ), dir- of psittacids were traded in Venezuela during –,of ect observation in markets (Herrera & Hennessey, ; which were non-native. At least , individuals were Gastañaga et al., ; Silva Regueira & Bernard, ), traded, with an overall extraction rate of , individuals and observation of the proportion of nest cavities poached per year ( years of accumulated reports). Amazona (Wright et al., ; Pain et al., ; Zager et al., ). ochrocephala was the most frequently detected species Each source has a unique geographical and taxonomic (SO = .), with the highest extraction rate (, indivi- coverage and evaluates different aspects of the market duals per year), followed by Eupsittula pertinax (SO = .) chain. Studies using a variety of sources are less frequent and Amazona amazonica (SO = .). Amazona barbaden- (Gavin et al., ), although a combination of sources sis, Ara ararauna and Ara chloropterus were the fourth most could probably provide a better insight into the magnitude frequently detected species (SO = .–.). Eleven spe- and scope of illegal activities, particularly in countries that cies were involved principally in domestic trade (. %of lack the infrastructure to formally monitor illegal wildlife records). Our approach could be the first step in developing trade (Kaufmann et al., ). a national monitoring programme to inform national policy In the Neotropics, Venezuela ranks second in psittacid on the trade in psittacids. Patterns and numbers provided species diversity (Rodríguez et al., ). Declining trends may be used to update the official list of threatened species, have been reported for of the psittacid species that and could also be used in planning conservation actions. occur there, and six are considered to be threatened (Supplementary Table S). The primary threats to Keywords Birds, conservation, illegal wildlife trade, par- Venezuelan psittacids are capture for the pet trade (both do- rots, pet trade, Venezuela mestic and international), and the destruction of nesting Supplementary material for this article is available at and feeding habitat by urban development (Rodríguez https://doi.org/./SX et al., ). Recent evidence suggests that even the most widespread psittacids of the genus Amazona may have undergone declines in their distribution (Ferrer-Paris et al., ). A previous review of trade in Venezuelan Introduction Psittacidae reported that at least species were traded fre- llegal wildlife trade is one of the major threats to global quently, both domestically and internationally, and of Ibiodiversity, generating a black market valued at USD these were traded heavily (Desenne & Strahl, ). – billion per year (Wyler & Sheikh, ). Most of this However, with no quantitative measure of the capture fre- quency or extraction rates, the use of this information for monitoring purposes is limited. A more quantitative assess- ADA SÁNCHEZ-MERCADO (Corresponding author), LISANDRO MORAN,ARLENE ment, but with a local focus, estimated that Forpus passeri- CARDOZO-URDANETA* Centro de Estudios Botánicos y Agroforestales, Instituto nus, Eupsittula pertinax and Psittacara wagleri were the Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Apartado 20632, Caracas 1020-A, Venezuela. E-mail [email protected]/[email protected] most frequently traded psittacids (Marín-Espinoza et al., MARIANNE ASMÜSSEN,JON PAUL RODRÍGUEZ Centro de Ecología, Instituto ). Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Caracas, Venezuela Here we analyse the most comprehensive data set on il- LORENA ISABEL MORALES Fundación Vida y Mar, Maracaibo, Venezuela legal wildlife trade currently available in Venezuela, gath- *Also at: Fundación Vida y Mar, Maracaibo, Venezuela ered from various sources. We take into account data Received February . Revision requested May . limitations and biases to provide a quantitative assessment Accepted July . First published online November . of the magnitude, scope and detectability of the trade in Oryx, 2020, 54(1), 77–83 © 2017 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S003060531700120X Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.8, on 30 Sep 2021 at 08:13:10, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060531700120X 78 A. Sánchez-Mercado et al. psittacids at the national level. Specifically, we evaluate () Data compilation the number of species involved in trade, () the magnitude of the trade in terms of number of reports per year and num- We defined as illegal all take without permits of undomes- ber of individuals traded per year, by species, and () the ticated terrestrial psittacid species from protected or private level of complementarity among data sources. Our approach areas, including unlicensed harvesting of eggs or juveniles of systematic data compilation from various sources, taking and domestic and international trade of live specimens into account their limitations and heterogeneity, could be (Sánchez-Mercado et al., ). We categorized records of applicable in other countries with a tradition of commercial illegal trade as domestic or international. The domestic wildlife use and a lack of infrastructure for wildlife-use mon- trade category included records of whole specimens or itoring (Kaufmann et al., ). their parts offered for sale or barter to local buyers, either directly by trappers or by intermediate dealers who obtained items from trappers or other local intermediates. The inter- Methods national trade category included sales by trappers or inter- mediates to buyers abroad (Sánchez-Mercado et al., ). Study area and legal framework We included all uses described for a given report; for ex- Our study area spans the entire Venezuelan territory ample, if a trapper captured a parrot and sold it in a local (. km ; Aguilera et al., ). Wildlife administration market or to a neighbour, this was recorded as domestic is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for Ecosocialism and trade, but if the trapper sold the parrot to a local intermedi- Water (previously Venezuelan Environment Ministry) but ary, who then re-sold it to a Colombian buyer, this was re- law enforcement is carried out by the military and police, corded as both local and international trade. with the Ministry playing a supporting role (Ojasti, ). We compiled , records of domestic and international The country’s law on wildlife use has not changed since trade of psittacids, from five sources: ( ) national and inter- (Congreso de la República de Venezuela, ) and, national enforcement agencies, ( ) the CITES trade data- in general, wildlife use is permitted via special licenses, in- base, ( ) published and unpublished literature, ( ) internet cluding for scientific sampling, pest control, and sport and social networks, and ( ) reports of donated and seized wild- commercial hunting. There is no distinction made between life from national zoos. subsistence hunting and sport hunting. Wildlife take without Data from the first three sources were compiled by a permit is punishable by fines and up to years in prison; Sánchez-Mercado et al. ( ). Data from national enforce- possession is penalized by seizure of the animal (República ment agencies comprised reports of seized wildlife at the – de Venezuela, ). Venezuela ratified CITES in and national level for , provided by the Venezuelan restricts exports of all native wildlife. Hunting of all psittacid Environment Ministry. According to Ministry personnel, species is banned, and the majority of psittacids are listed in in all cases their reports referred to national traders selling Appendix II of CITES, with three (Amazona barbadensis, goods on international markets, and the final destination of Ara macao and Ara militaris) listed in Appendix I specimens depended on the effectiveness and speed of re- (UNEP-WCMC, ). There are no captive-breeding or sponse of international dealers. If international dealers sustainable use programmes or government-sanctioned delay, national traders try to sell their goods in domestic management plans for psittacids in Venezuela (Bigio et al., markets before the animals sicken or die (A. Martínez, ; Morales & Dessene, ). pers. comm.; Sánchez-Mercado et al., ). Thus, we cate- gorized the Ministry’s records as domestic and international trade, to avoid underestimating