I thought collecting birds’ eggs was a thing of the past, confined to the dark side of natural history. So I was shocked to read in the Mercury a few weeks ago that federal wildlife officials had cracked a massive case of wildlife trafficking involving eggs.
The seizure of more than 3000 eggs from a Hobart home made national headlines with investigators tracking the source and market for the eggs, believed to include endangered Tasmanian species such as the forty-spotted pardalote and swift parrot. A Hobart resident is under investigation.
Although the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products is reported to run into billions of dollars annually – some estimates suggest it is more profitable than the drugs trade – the fact that birds’ eggs are still collected came as a shock.
I thought it was a practice that was now a part of wildlife history – like shooting birds to study and identify them – after most Western nations banned the collection of birds’ eggs in the 1960s, following the lead of Britain where the “hobby” had been prolific since Victorian times.
I must confess that as a schoolboy in Britain I was an avid collector myself. Many nature lovers of my generation and before developed their lifelong passion for birds from this childhood interest, before its severe impact on rare bird populations became known. In mitigation, I will say there was a code of conduct among responsible collectors. Only one egg was taken and collecting excursions were timed to retrieve newly laid eggs, not those holding developing chicks. Birds were observed building the nests, and eggs taken as soon as the female bird laid her clutch.
The practice was finally banned when it became apparent in the late 1950s and early 1960s that bird populations were suffering dramatic declines, mainly as a result of land clearance and industrial agriculture with its now banned harmful chemicals like DDT.
As birds declined, eggs of the rarer ones became more valuable and suddenly nests were targeted by people who might not be bird lovers, and were out to make a profit.
As for the haul of 3404 eggs seized in Hobart, wildlife investigators have given them a value of between $400,000 to $500,000. The European operation that triggered this raid has led to more than 56,000 eggs being seized.
It will be alleged the Tasmanian man traded and exchanged Australian eggs with at least one of the European offenders.
Analysis of the eggs is now underway to confirm what species the eggs belong to, but they are believed to include rare and threatened species facing extinction.
Penalties for offenders can be heavy. The possession of wildlife specimens listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $330,000 or both.