An assessment of avian species sold in the South African pet trade

Abstract

Non-native species have been translocated from their native to new geographic ranges through the pet trade. Consequently, some become threatened with extinction, while some establish and become invasive. We surveyed 117 physical pet stores across South Africa between September 2018 and September 2019 to determine avian species composition, availability, price and IUCN status. We reviewed the literature to determine which avian species have established populations outside captivity, including their impacts and clutch sizes. We recorded 169 avian species from 26 families, of which 147 were non-natives. Psittacidae (23%) and Estrildidae (20%) were the most available families. The budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus, zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata, and Fischer's lovebird Agapornis fischeri were the most available species recorded in all the provinces. Most species were listed as least concern (78%) and sold at lower prices, while threatened species were rarely available and sold at higher prices. Only 14 avian species have established populations outside captivity, with most associated with agricultural impact. In addition, six of these 14 species were among the top 20 most traded and have been observed outside captivity in South Africa. Assessing the trade of avian species is essential for conservation and invasive species management. The results from this study may help improve early surveillance for detecting the establishment of potential invasive avian species. K E Y W O R D S biological invasions, feral birds, management, policy and regulation, urban ecology Résumé Des espèces non indigènes ont été transférées de leur aire d'origine vers de nouvelles aires géographiques par le biais du commerce des animaux de compagnie. Par conséquent, certaines sont menacées d'extinction, tandis que d'autres s'établissent et deviennent envahissantes. Nous avons interrogé 117 animaleries physiques en Afrique du Sud entre septembre 2018 et septembre 2019 afin de déterminer la composition, la disponibilité, le prix et le statut de conservation UICN des espèces aviaires. Nous avons passé la littérature en revue afin de déterminer quelles espèces aviaires avaient établi des populations en dehors de la captivité, y compris leurs impacts et les tailles This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Cumulative propagule pressure exerted by escaped pet parrots

“…It is unsurprising that parrots are the most commonly sold bird taxa globally (Gippet & Bertelsmeier, 2021) given people generally respond positively to their charisma (Crowley, 2021). Simply redirecting sales of pet parrots towards native species is often not possible in countries such as New Zealand or South Africa where native birds are protected by law and cannot be sold as pets (Shivambu et al, 2022). The high numbers of pet parrots lost, particularly in heavily populated areas, represent significant and consistent propagule pressure for multiple species with invasive potential.…”

“…It is unsurprising that parrots are the most commonly sold bird taxa globally (Gippet & Bertelsmeier, 2021) given people generally respond positively to their charisma (Crowley, 2021). Simply redirecting sales of pet parrots towards native species is often not possible in countries such as New Zealand or South Africa where native birds are protected by law and cannot be sold as pets (Shivambu et al, 2022) et al, 2021). Although biosecurity agencies have funded invasive bird technical specialists to find and remove high-risk parrot species in the past, if they do not retain dedicated specialists into the future, the resulting higher propagule pressure will likely increase establishment probability for high-risk parrots.…”

“…Most studies to date have used trade and sales of pet birds as an indirect proxy for propagule pressure, rather than quantifying the number of escaped or released pet birds (e.g. Shivambu et al, 2022; Su et al, 2015). Quantifying the propagule pressure from released pet birds is difficult, as many release events are never recorded (Vall‐llosera & Cassey, 2017).…”

Correction

“…The survey link (https://forms.gle/52h21wKv7esZ34aQ8) was distributed through Facebook, WhatsApp, local estate newsletters (n = 3), pet shops (n = 32) and printed letters (n = 420) targeting residents in eThekwini Municipality. Letters were distributed to selected eco-estate managers and residents during sampling for parallel studies (Shivambu et al 2021a(Shivambu et al , 2021b(Shivambu et al , 2022 and presentations. The ethical clearance to carry out this study was granted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Humanities and Social Research Ethics Committee (number: HSS/0678/018D).…”

Evaluating the Status of Lost, Found and Sighted Non-Native Pet Bird Species in South Africa

“…Birds are among the most traded taxonomic groups, following fish and reptiles in the global market [17,18]. Online or traditional vendors (pet shops) are one of the important avenues where different non-native bird species are traded [19][20][21]. Most of these bird species, including protected, native, and potentially invasive ones, are exchanged between and within countries through these two avenues [19,22,23].…”