Africa's birds vanishing into Asian markets

The trade in African grey parrots is lucrative, fueled by a desire for exotic pets. [Courtesy]

A study has revealed that more than 1 million wild birds were shipped from Africa to Asian trade hubs between 2006 and 2020.

The study, published in Conservation Biology, reveals that most of these traded species are not protected by major international treaties, leaving them vulnerable to silent overexploitation that threatens to collapse local ecosystems across the continent.

“The vast majority of these birds were likely captured from the wild, with potential implications for the sustainability of trade, the overexploitation of wild populations, and biosecurity risks to people and animals,” the research, which was released this month, revealed.

The study analysed 15 years of UN Comtrade and customs data. It shows that Africa’s share of this trade is surging, with West African nations, particularly Mali, having become primary exporters and fuelling a demand.

Besides Mali, the other biggest exporters of wild birds over the entire study period were Guinea, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Together, they accounted for 86.3 per cent of imports to Hong Kong and Singapore from African countries. Mali was the largest trade partner, accounting for 28.2 per cent of all imports from African countries. The trade database also recorded trade flows of live birds from African exporting countries, including South Africa, Senegal, DR Congo, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau and Kenya.

“Our research found that the scale of bird trade has been significantly underestimated. Since 2006, 1,085,326 birds have been imported into Hong Kong and Singapore from around the world,” the lead researchers noted.

While public attention often focuses on illegal trade in charismatic species, such as parrots, the new research unearthed a vast international trade in species that rarely make headlines.

The numbers from the research excluded parrots and other popular exotic pets, as well as birds of prey and poultry. It only focused on birds that are not commonly bred in captivity and for which trade is not regulated through CITES permits.

“Of these, we found that more than 700,000 birds – about 65 per cent of all imports – came from African countries,” they noted.

 While the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) regulates trade for thousands of animals, millions of others that are deemed common fall through the cracks.

The study reveals a taxonomic vacuum where current customs codes are often too broad, grouping diverse species under generic labels like “Other Birds”. This lack of specificity allows rare or declining species to be laundered through legal channels without triggering alarms.