Select Committee on Environmental Audit Minutes of Evidence


Supplementary memorandum from TRAFFIC

STUDY OF PARROT TRADE ON THE INTERNET

Commerce et Trafic de Perroquets sur Internet

By Conservatoire des Espe"ces Psittacines,Kerret, Grand Champ, France 2000

  Produced a large dossier on the internet sites and a report (in French and hard copy only).

    —  Surfed the web for 500 hours between 1997 and 1999.

    —  At the start of the study period, 10,930 internet sites were found on which parrots are traded. By January 1999 that figure had increased to 99,542 internet sites.

    —  The number of parrot species sold from these sites was 161 species and 68 subspecies.

    —  28 species were on Annex A of the EU Wildlife Trade Regulations.

    —  Without carrying out in depth investigations into each advertiser it was impossible to state how many of the parrots were being offered illegally. Many of the adverts requested further communication to be conducted privately, either by email or by fax.

    —  The number of visitors to these parrot internet sites that advertised birds for sale increased throughout the study period. One site had 10,388 visitors in June 1997, which had increased to 101,430 by January 1999. Another site had a total of 186,487 visitors in May 1998 that had increased to 383,982 by January 1999. Yet another site had an increase of 337,102 visitors in a 19 month period.

  Author—Jerome Pensu, Conseiller Technique du Conservatoire des Espe"ces Psittacines

(Translated by TRAFFIC International).

July 2004




 
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