BirdsCaribbean, an international network committed to conserving Caribbean birds, is reporting that a petition has been launched to return the 12 parrots that were transported from Dominica to Germany in what has proved to be a highly contested move.
The organization has published that information on its official website birdscaribbean.org.
The controversy started on Social Media where it was alleged that the parrots were smuggled from the country in March 2018.
After initial silence on the issue with no prior public notice of the transfer, the government of Dominica explained that the birds were taken to be entered in a breeding program to help repopulate the species following the decimation of their habitat and population due to Hurricane Maria.
The Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) who are responsible for housing the birds in Germany claim, on their website, that they had “cooperation with all governments involved.” The ACTP also branded reports that the parrots had been moved and acquired by illegitimate means as “fake news”.
The permanent secretary for agriculture, the minister for agriculture, the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation (RCF) and a writer for Talking Birds magazine of Australia have all expressed their views on the matter. Some experts and enthusiasts are categorically opposed to the action taken while the government defends the move remains adamant that all the correct procedures were followed.
Now, BirdsCaribbean are insisting that the birds could only have been legally exported under very strict emergency conditions which they claim were not met in this case. Additionally, the website maintains that The Environmental Coordination Unit (ECU) the body recognized under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) did not grant the permit for exportation as required.
In seeking to remedy this issue a petition has been launched via change.org that has garnered (at the time of this article) nearly 1800 signatures with an aim of attaining 2500 signatures.
Some light reading
https://www.iwnsvg.com/2015/08/11/st-vincent-parrots-fail-to-reproduce-in-germany-also/
We are not getting the full story,some people stand to make some money and bamboozle Dominica and all dominica.
These parrots will not survive captivity in a cage or zoo in Germany, they need to be in the wild in Dominica where they were born. They are also tropical birds who will not survive the German European climate. Having them in Germany is a death sentence, the people who allowed them to be sent to Germany to die in captivity need to be charged.
For those of you signing petition, you all can take care of birds? Sa kway toneh!!
Why is your response in pink? Are your supporters colourblind or in need of assistance of which article they need to get someone to read for them?
Anyway, I digress – the simple way to get to the bottom of this issue is to forget all the bs talk and follow the money. Somebody got paid and is keeping quiet hoping this will blow over and they will keep the loot. The more it is kept public the harder it is to cover and even more expensive to keep quiet especially on an island like Dominica. Somebody always tries to be clever and have more than others and later on what was hidden then comes to light. Btw, two of South Korea’s ex presidents are in jail or currently facing charges for corruption….I’ll leave it at that
They will be back. Y’all need to take a chill pill and relax. They will be back.
They are in a hermetically controlled laboratory and bird Avery Dee, that’s a building with a roof and and running water sealed from the elements. Their off spring will be returned to the Island next you will be saying thats cruel and unusual to take the poor baby birds from their mothers! Don’t worry it will happen like the wild in 10 to 12 weeks after hatching.
Them birds can survive without germany
Soon they will squawk “HEIL”!
for money, man will give his wife
for money he will even give his life
when money becomes the ultimate stride
what do you think will become of national pride
The Shameful thing is I am yet to hear an announcement from THE PRIME MINISTER OF DOMINICA , maybe he did but i haven’t heard, did not hear , wasn’t told.
Isn’t OUR PARROTS,OUR Property,OUR NATIONAL BIRD , a national issue ?
Shouldn’t the fate of our parrots be more of an issue than Joseph Isaac sitting anywhere
After Joseph Isaac is gone he will be forgotten .The next generation will be interested in knowing what happened to the Parrots which they read about that was unique only to our small island DOMINICA. This is a national issue , Comrade talk to your people man .
Who ever is behind this campaign (and we know who) but I am not here to point fingers but to point out what I consider to be pure hypocrisy. So after reading this article which gives the Reader the impression that Birds Caribbean which would be certainly apolitical, is the one who has published an impartial observatory peice. I genuinely felt that i at least needed to read the source information. So I dutifully followed the link to the article fully expecting to see an independently written article based on their own findings. Instead all I found was writings laced with “WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED” or “WE ARE ADVISED”. well from there I started taking everything I read with a CUP of salt. The question which arrose in my mind was well you were informed by who? Or advised by whom? One could not help but note that this entire article was written with a sense of similarities to the agenda being advanced by the droves of new conservationists we have been hearing from of late.
The point is that the birds should be returned to Dominica. Period! Your argument about the credibility of the source behind the campaign to get the birds back is peripheral. You’re deliberately meandering around the major concern of getting these back to their God-given place of residence, Dominica.
Is NabesandI really a pseudonym for Parry Bellot?
The Skerrit’s administration is so shrouded in secrecy because the actors are fully cognizant of the fact that many of their deeds are not above board. The birds strive best in their indigenous habitat. They would never acclimatize to their present alien environment. There is hardly any transparency, and accountability is non-existent with these pariahs. Then, they use deceptive means to conceal the truth. The vast majority of Dominicans want the birds to be returned to their natural home but the government is relentlessly determined to let the Germans have them. In light of the outrage this transfer has caused locally, regionally and internationally , it’s mind boggling as to the reason(s) why the government is so recalcitrant on keeping these national icons from returning to their natural place of birth. Anxiously awaiting their return.
If the Parrots are sold; no amount of petition will cause them to be returned to Dominica. If I bought and paid for something from an individual, entity or whichever source, simply because someone believe it was wrong to sell me the parrots of dogs and demand I return them would not mean squat!
The fact is I believe the Parrots are sold, they are not returning to Dominica; if we had an honest government in the country, that government would have got the police involve in investigating the matter which I personally believe to be bold thievery, and have all the people involved arrested and charged with a felony!
All involved in that thievery should get at least five years in jail for theft!
It’s easy I just signed. I’m appalled, smells of a dirty deed. If only the public was notified of this National treasure then I would at least taken my kids to see them “the day before” for posterity.
Dominicans living in the United States should start protesting in front of the German embassy and make this an international issue. Monies may have been used to bribe certain individuals on Dominica.
Are you seriously???? Lol
People have more important things to do with there time
I will definitely be signing this petition as proper procedures were not followed.Irrespective what the rude and disrespectful Skerritt and his henchmen say.How can proper procedures have been followed when from the get go the populace was not told anything before it was revealed.For sure the ACTP person did not just show up and that same day, because of extenuating circumstances the birds had to be rushed out of the country, no! other countries were consulted, so plans were being made all along to send these birds to ACTP unbeknownst to not even though persons who were caring for the birds.Now these corrupt people are telling us that proper plans were followed.This is just lipstick on a pig, and a corrupt pig at that. I encourage as many people as possible to sign the petition to get the damn birds back.
It is disgraceful that something like this would happen.
What is worse,the people who know better have their mouth shut.
when will Dominicans begin to speak out against injustice and wrong?
Why are Dominicans so dumb.
How on earth can we have something that is unique to us,take it and send it to another country?
Sa kway gas.
Is there any other country on earth that owns the PANDA..??Only China.
Any other country which has a panda in its zoo has to rent it from Its native country and pay large sums of money.
Alas poor Dominique
Es say sot ke fe nou????
Things getting from bad to worse, these little groups think they can tell legitimate governments how they should govern. It was a government decision, so who is bird Caribbean to say what is legal or not.
Paul T
who is one man to decided what should be the outcome of DOMINICA property
the property of Generations of Dominicans to come
WITHOUT CONSULTING NOR INFORMING THEM .
is that what Governing the Country is about .
Please explain .
Government took a decision, we might not like it but that is Government doing it’s job. The opposition can take issue with the decision that is part of their function. The bird Caribbean is in no position to tell government how to manage the wild life population. Can bird Caribbean tell us what the parrot population is? After the Hurricane I have sighted several and many others have sighted parrots looking for food close to populated areas, our parrot population is much more than 12. We talk as if government took all the parrots in Dominica and sent them to Germany.
Paul, so now government should dictate to us without consultation? Sorry but you have a strange view of democracy, a kind of governance I did not vote for.
The Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots (ACTP) and its breeding program are a GREAT much needed avenue. The birds habbitat was destroyed and the German asscociation has the means to put the breeding program in place and reintroduce offspring back to Dominica. A country where people do not have proper sanitation and thousands of homes remain damaged along with some poor people living in tents and in church basements, the people who have the time to focus and create a petition to return the birds should examine their priororties, BirdsCaribbean wake up and get real!!!
Martin who are you ?a Dominican?
”The birds habitat was destroyed? ”
These birds have been living on the Island for donkeys of years .
God only knows why Dominica and no where else ,they have survived many a hurricane , they survived attacks by man and they are still thriving, Farmers even complain now that the increase in numbers have become a pest to their produce trees, the farmers have invaded their territory so they have the right to fight back .
How similar is Germany to Dominica for you to try to make one believe they will thrive in a habitat , totally different to what they have thrived on successfully for Generations .The ACTP is a business, wait you and all will see what the outcome will be .
I was watching a program this morning, a butterfly enclosure owner admitted on air that he has thousands and thousands of butterflies from the world over , many of them rare species that he has bred over a 10 year period .Now even children have to pay to see them.A million…
Martin, their habitat had issues for about 2 months. By November with so much rainfall the forest leaves and branches started bouncing back, today you can hardly see the ground through the canopy. These people if they mean well, are late with their mission. You need to come home to see this. All the parrots and other birds have begun to build nests again as the parrots know from experience how to do this like they did after Hurricane David; that’s why many of them are still here. I’m sitting here watching green mountains with young lucious canopy. Don’t drink the cool aid. Sign the petition and if you’re in New York please go to the German embassy and let them know the gravity of this situation. All politics aside. They need to be returned Now.
Stop stressing the parrots will be back
Man, bring our birds backhome. Where can zI sign that petition?
Read first, it’s in the body of the story http://www.change.org. it took me 90 seconds and I’m slow.
There are more than 2500 UWP supporters in DA so that should be a breeze.