I'll look/ask around this weekend to see if I can get more recent numbers from folks.
--- On Thu, 7/22/10, Jonathan Harris wrote:
From: Jonathan Harris
Subject: [Media-advisors] checking statistics on US captive bird numbers
To: "Mickaboo media advisor team" , "Mickaboo media advisor team"
Cc: "Elizabeth Young"
Date: Thursday, July 22, 2010, 10:42 AM
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Referring to the paragraph pasted in below, I'm getting worried about the statistic 40-50 million birds in US homes. This figure has been around for awhile, and I dropped it in hastily as I was writing this. Sybil Erden's presentation (excellent!! - Thanks, Mary) cited figures of 10-16 million. So I started checking on line for population estimates and ran across an article by the Avian Welfare Resource Center (anybody know anything about them?) in which they review various captive bird populaltion estimates dating from the early 1990s onward, including from PIJAC, APPMA, the AVMA survey Erden cites, and other sources. These estimates are all over the map, ranging from about 10 million to over 60 million birds, with the highest ones coming from unnamed "avian welfare professionals.'" Most recent estimates seem to be in the 10-20 million range.
http://www.avianwelfare.org/issues/overview.htm
Does anyone have a good handle on the numbers? or a recommendation for how best to present them in this document? I don't want us to overstate our case. We're already being called alarmists, and some people have said the total population has fallen somewhat in recent years. Can anyone justify a higher figure? Should we just lower the estimate? If we try to finesse it by saying estimates range from 10-60 million, we may be accused of not having a good handle on what we're talking about.
Please let me know what you think. Thanks!
Jonathan
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FALSE: There is no crisis of homeless birds. Their numbers in shelters are insignificant compared to impounded dogs and cats.
THE TRUTH: There is a huge and growing crisis of unwanted birds. It has taken four centuries for the numbers of homeless dogs and cats to reach the levels they have in America today. The explosion of domestic parrot populations (now estimated at some 40–50 million in US homes) has occurred only in the past 20 years, driven by the rise of large-scale, industrial breeders and pet retailers in the 1990s. Even small parrots like cockatiels can live 30 years, larger species 50–100 years, but their human companions often tire of them long before that. As people who purchased birds on impulse confront the difficulties and cost of caring for these complex, demanding, essentially wild animals, many are relinquishing them, sometimes illegally releasing or simply abandoning them. Most of these birds never reach shelters, dying from untreated illnesses and neglect at home or from starvation or predation when released. The problem has worsened during the
current housing crisis and recession, as people losing their homes are simply abandoning birds, sometimes entire aviaries, at an alarming rate. And as the American population ages, more people are having to relinquish long-lived birds because they can no longer care for them. Craigslist is filled with ads for unwanted birds. Mickaboo's annual intake numbers have gone from about 35 in 2002 to a projected 500 this year. If that trend continues, the number will reach 5,000 by 2018. Rescue groups and shelters cannot absorb such growth. Mickaboo currently has 375 rescued birds needing homes, and our volunteers' space to house them is at capacity. Recently we have been forced to impose a moratorium on the intake of cockatiels, although we know of many who need our help. The number of birds Mickaboo sees are a tiny fraction of the total in California, to say nothing of the US. All the while, more birds continue to be bred and sold.
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