The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced the arrests of four men from Miami-Dade County, all of whom have been charged with illegal possession of migratory birds. One of the dirtbags was a repeat offender who could face enhanced penalties. Released into the wild were twenty birds, mostly Painted Buntings and Indigo Buntings, but including one Northern Cardinal.
“These birds do not belong in captivity; they belong in their natural habitats to proliferate and continue the species,” said FWC Lt. Jay Marvin. “The public should be aware that trapping, possessing, buying and/or selling these birds is a violation of state and federal laws and can result in hefty fines and possible jail time.”
Isn’t the pet trade grand?
One of the most depressing trips I ever went on was a three day trip in the Mekong Delta. It wasn’t a birdwatching trip, but in the whole three days we saw one tailorbird, one myna, one small bittern and a breeding colony of egrets (protected). Everything else was in cages or eaten I assume.
Luckily we saw lots of birds in parks and they were also more common outside parks in northern Vietnam.
Wow. I am glad to see these people were arrested. Why would you ever want to capture these birds?
yeah, some parts of the captive bird trade are rather scummy. but it’s doubtful those birds were intended to stay in american living rooms; they were likely destined for outside the country.
What Grrl said. If it’s cute or pretty, somebody somewhere wants to buy it and put it in a cage. All those “adorable” videos of things like jerboas and fairy armadillos coming out of Japan–wild animals in tiny sterile apartments doing “cute” things…make me sick. We need an international wildlife SWAT team. And we need to wake up that this kind of trafficking is going on all over the world, ripping wildlife out of its habitat and shipping it to clueless people with more money than brains. Thanks for posting this, Corey.