Aussie scientists taking down the international illegal parrot trade

The illegal international parrot trade is among the most prolific, yet low-risk, organised crime operations, and a team of Australian researchers are trying to bring it down.

Similar to INTERPOL's I-Familia genetic database, the Australian National University (ANU) scientists want to create an international database for parrots.

"This research project is like CSI, but for parrots," ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society research fellow Dr George Olah said.

The scientists hope a parrot genetic database will help law enforcement agencies around the world clamp down on illegal operations, and rehome trafficked birds.

Illegal wildlife trade is the fourth most lucrative organised crime in the world and is worth up to an estimated USD 20 billion per year.

Parrots are among the most trafficked birds in the world, with many coming from South America and South-East Asia.

Taken from their wild habitats in neotropical countries, poachers sell the birds internationally at highly profitable prices.

Punishment is minimal as "confusing and contradicting" regulations across national and international levels make prosecution by authorities difficult.

"Even if someone is caught for trading parrots, often it's not a huge crime, so they often wouldn't get prison time, they might get some fines, but even then the fines can be quite low in these countries," Dr Olah said.

"That makes it a really favourable activity for many people, unfortunately."

Owning parrots, and by proxy, trading parrots, has been popular for centuries.

"Back to the time of Alexander the Great, they started taking parrots from India and transporting them to different parts," Dr Olah said.

"Colombus, when they discovered the new world ... did take lots of parrots and macaws from the Caribbean to Europe."

In recent times demand has persisted, with many wishing to keep the birds as status symbols or companion pets.

This strong international demand has driven opportunistic illegal poaching operations of parrots, and according to research this has "significantly contributed to their severe decline worldwide".

The solution's in the genes

Scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) and King's Forensics in the UK believe genomic sequencing may hold a solution to saving trafficked parrots across the world.

Dr Olah is the chief investigator and will travel to Indonesia, the "highest priority country for parrot conservation", in May.

He will head into the jungle to collect feather and blood samples from threatened species including the yellow-crested Cockatoo.

The scientists will then be able to create a reference genetic database much like that used by police to track down criminals.

Dr Olah said that this would be enough to run a sample from a bird found in Germany, to find it's origin by connecting genes with its closest possible relative in the database.

The data will then be fed into a genetic database that international law enforcement agencies can use in investigations.

"If we can prove to the authorities that the birds came from a particular island, then after health screening and disease testing, we can facilitate them being moved back there," Dr Olah said.

Dr Olah also hopes the research will be robust enough to prosecute criminals in court and break the chain of illegal trade.

"The benefits will be for local authorities to better focus on enforcement," he said.

"If we have a genetic database like this, it would tell us the whole web of this illegal trade."

He said that like genetic forensics for humans, the parrot database is measurable and accurate enough to be potentially be used as evidence in court.

The scientists also hope that their database will allow them to work out where international shipments of parrots are coming from, or going to.

This will enable trafficked birds to be released back to their original habitat.

"At the end, if they confiscate the birds, it's very important to get the birds back to the wild as soon as possible," Dr Olah said.

"If we can prove to the authorities that the birds came from a particular island, then after health screening and disease testing, we can facilitate them being moved back there."

The research team will initially focus their efforts on the illegal parrot trade in Indonesia but plan to collaborate with other international hotspots, with plans to implement the database in Australia.