Think back 20+ years before the import ban on wild caught parrots. If that situation were still present today (or pretend you were considering it back then), would you buy a wild caught parrot? Keep in mind while wild caught parrots were being actively imported, they were cheap so there was no market for domestically hand raised ones. Would you prefer a wild caught or no parrot at all? Is your reasoning based on opinion of the trapping/morals or because of the pet qualities?
I chose the second option. Thinking about parrot keeping back in the day there weren't many options and if people had simply said no to wild caught birds we would not have the many wonderful hand raised pets we enjoy now.
How every now that there are so many options I would hope that no one would buy a wild caught bird.
I don't want fish caught from the wild, and I don't want parrots that are caught from the wild. If it can't be captive bred than we shouldn't be removing it from its natural habitat where doing so will have some sort of effect, however large or small, on the environment at large.
My stance is that if the animal knew its freedoms, I would not want to cage it, and to say I would have it only if bred ones were not available would be selfish on my part. If the animal has only known cages and humans then I am OK with it, but let a wild animal be wild!
Stanley the Sun Conure Ollie the Green Cheek Conure Stan and Ollie the great comedy duo, always making me chuckle!!
Most of the baby birds we have today as pets are only a few generations away from the wild caught birds that were brought here to do nothing but breed. How sad for those birds. I can't imagine how cruel it would be to have been pulled out of the wild, away from the flock, stuffed in a cage with another bird of the opposite sex (and not to your choosing), and then pump out babies. What mental anguish it must be. My hope is that the wild parrot trade would dry up completely now that there are so many birds in captive breeding programs. I wish they were all excellent programs, but that's a different topic. My feeling is that a wild bird should remain wild. Oh, and that includes the stolen wild babies pulled from nests. What an ugly thing humans have done to the poor creatures of the earth.
My opinion is that a wild caught should be siezed and returned to the wild. If this is not possible it should go to a zoo or a widlife park where it would not have to be tamed.
It hurts me to know that there are birds in cages living there lives there and not being cared for. It hurts me to know that the birds in the wild are being hunted because they cause problems that were caused by man in reducing their natural habitat. It hurts me to know that I cannot fence in 1000 acres and take in everyone of them that needs me. It hurts me to know that I cannot afford to donate to an organization trying to help them. It hurts me to know that they are helpless. It hurts me to know that I am too.
I do wish for a wonderful pair of rose tinted glasses together with a set of very tight fitting blinkers that cannot be torn off. and live in the beautiful imaginary world instead of living in the real world. Where white is not so white and black is not so black. Morphed by vested interests while vested interests continued to laugh all the way to their banks.