An import ban on wild birds introduced into EU legislation in 2005 resulted in a 99.5% reduction in the proportion of wild-caught CITES birds imported in to the UK by 2008.
The trade of live CITES-listed reptiles into the UK however has increased fivefold since 2000 – a rise of over 80 per cent. During this time the number of animals that were wild-caught increased by almost 79 per cent. There is always a risk that suspension of one trade may contribute to a shift in focus onto different animals in order to maintain business. The overall growth in reptile trade therefore could have occurred following a shift from trading wild birds towards wild reptiles. This happened briefly in the US in 1993 following implementation of an import ban on wild CITES-listed birds, however numbers then decreased each subsequent year.
Continued monitoring of trade in all bird and reptile species (including those not listed on CITES) is necessary to monitor whether trade in particular species should be controlled or stopped on welfare grounds.
For more information, read the 'reptile and bird' animal welfare indicator.
