The Social and Cultural Importance of Keeping Wild Birds as Pets in an Ethnic Community in Guiyang City, China

Incorporating local stakeholders’ voices and knowledge into conservation decisions: a case study on the Chinese Hwamei (Garrulax canorus Linnaeus, 1758) in Taijiang, Guizhou, China

“…On the other hand, according to the bird-keepers, bird-keeping practices can generate well-being among people in many ways, especially among the elderly, and also some non-keepers. These benefits have also been reported in other studies [ 2 , 55 ], indicating that these well-being benefits are not limited to a particular region. Given that one of main motivations for conservation is to safeguard well-being for human, it is better to consider a conservation strategy targeted to sustainable use rather than simple bans on use which relied heavily on environmental enforcement.…”

“…Birds are one of the most hunted and traded animal groups worldwide since they are exploited in multiple ways in many human societies [ 1 ]. Particularly due to their attractive coloration, melodious songs and appealing behaviors, birds are kept in captivity as pets and ornaments all over the world, especially in Southeast and East Asia [ 2 – 4 ], and South America [ 5 – 9 ]. It has been estimated that the total number of bird species being kept in cages represent up to 37% of the world’s identified species [ 5 , 10 ].…”

“…At present, there is little literature investigating the scale of keeping and trading of Chinese Hwamei at local and regional levels in China, especially through household investigation. However, a few reports have found that numerous birds are traded and caged in both urban and rural areas, for example, in the city of Guiyang [ 2 , 35 , 36 ]. This city is the provincial capital of Guizhou province and is notable for the high numbers of wild birds being kept and traded; more than two hundred wild bird species have been recorded on sale in one of its public markets [ 36 ], and the Chinese Hwamei was one of the most coveted species with extremely high numbers [ 2 , 35 ].…”

“…This bio-cultural sediment has already evolved to be a central component of human life [ 41 ]. Accordingly, a previous investigation found that the Chinese Hwamei has cultural and social significance in the Miao ethnic community in Guiyang city [ 2 ]. Therefore, one pressing question needing to be addressed is whether such a conservation policy can win social support in these local populations.…”

Conservation implication and traditional ecological knowledge on trading bird: A case study in Depok bird market in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia

“…However, there was no statistical data that support the mentioned relation between keeping bird and socioeconomic aspects (Alves et al 2013). Another case in China's ethnic community showed that the major reason for keeping birds is finding sense of enjoyment, but some people refuse to do that and prefer bird watching (Dai et al 2021).…”