Number: 1984-23
WHEREAS, raptors are a highly important segment of the wildlife resource of the United States and provide a rich heritage which should be protected and perpetuated for the enjoyment and use by citizens of our country; and
WHEREAS, recent changes in federal regulations provide a broad framework relating to hybridization and sale of captive bred raptors; and
WHEREAS, hybridization and sale of captive bred raptors may result in harm to the resource and less than maximum benefits to its users unless carefully regulated; and
WHEREAS, federal laws provide states with the right to enact additional restrictions to the existing federal regulations;
WHEREAS, threatened or endangered raptors in possession on or before November 10, 1978, or the progeny of such raptors are exempt from the prohibitions outlined in the Endangered Species Act of 1978; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation, in recognition of the contribution raptor propagators have made to the restoration of populations of endangered birds of prey, favors legislation that allows raptor propagators to recoup some of their expenses.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 15-18, 1984, in Atlanta, Georgia, opposes the sale and commercialization of raptors, but because of recent federal regulations which allows for the sale of raptors hereby urges those states that choose to adopt laws to permit the hybridization and sale of captive-produced raptors within the framework of the federal regulations incorporate language into such laws that would:
- Allow hybridization only in accordance with current federal law except that hybridization involving a threatened or endangered subspecies for other than conservation purposes be prohibited; and
- Permit purchase, barter, and sale of captive bred raptors only in accordance with current federal regulations, including the provision that only those birds banded before two (2) weeks of age with a numbered, seamless marker provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service be eligible for purchase, barter, or sale; and
- Require that any subspecies cross or hybrid Falconiformes and Strigiformes or any non-native Falconiform, be fitted with an owner identification tag, and for peregrine falcons a functioning radio telemetry transmitter should be worn whenever flown; and
- Require propagators, in order to be able to sell a bird of a specific species, to provide evidence that production of viable young of that species has resulted from his/her breeding flock for at least one (1) year prior to the year of sale; and
- Allow an individual bird to be sold only once and then only by the propagator of the bird; and
- Allow propagators with appropriate state and federal propagation permits to sell or barter their captive bred raptors to individuals with appropriate state falconry permits and/or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service propagation permits, and to state and federal wildlife agencies; and
- Limit the sale of any threatened or endangered bird or their progeny, with one threatened or endangered parent designating the progeny as ineligible for private sale or barter, to state and federal wildlife agencies; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation send this resolution and accompanying background information to the Directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and all State Wildlife Agencies and to the Presidents of International and Regional Associations of Fish and Wildlife agencies to promote constructive discussion and further the purpose of this resolution.