Aussie Finch Forum

Getting back to the cessation of imports . .

Latest A.A. mag, in an article on The Cuban Finch, a reference to Eric Baxter states that it "dates back to 1938"


IT just seems strange that no one can put an exact date to an event which occurred not that long ago

maybe contacting the government would be the best and surest way?

Importation is going through abit of a rough point right now (with mammals at least) The problem is that all the major organizations (zoos and such) are in the process of waiting for their animals to die. This may seem heartless, but most of them are packed to capacity right now, and can't fit anymore. Many of the animals are old and their being phased out (Puma's, for example are, great animals, but the ones at melboune are too old, the ones at Canberra are brother and Sister, and the ones at Dreamworld are castrated. So there goes the Puma). After the zoos have made enough room they're going to start importing again (Melboune zoo has already put in form for importing species such as Coatis, Capybaras, Giant Anteaters and the like. Once these start getting imported much of this should clear up, and importation should become easier. So in maybe 15 years I imagine that importing birds into Australia won't be as hard as it is now.

Another reason that none are being imported is that it takes alot of effort to import a species (or, more, do the paperwork for importation) and that's just to much for private aviticulturists. I'm trying to find the form for the Coatis that Melbourne is trying to import, and you'll see what I mean

Nrg800 wrote: So in maybe 15 years I imagine that importing birds into Australia won't be as hard as it is now.

Wonder how many species will be lost in that time?

That's the problem, Melboune zoo has less then half the number of mammals that it held a mere 20 years ago... I read somewhere on this forum about someone who had alot of land, and purchased a heap of a species that was becoming increasingly rare in Australian aviculture. He set up a large aviary and bred them, alot. giving the species a great boost. If other breeders start to do that, I think that we should be set untill then, but then, not many people are doing it now, and not many people seem to be planning to do it.

thanks Nathan that's very interesting....
really with the pumas??? wow.
lets hope so, our stocks could really use a boost and I for one would like some brown twinspots
as for planning to do something like that I'm sure plenty of people would leap at the chance, certainly there are many with the required knowledge and experience to do so, but it's not always about what we want to be able to do as I'm sure we all know.

This cooperation has been discussed at length on the forum, I can think of two threads about it. It boils down to money, available space and distance between breeders.
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=3434&p=17766&hilit ... ock#p17766
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=3435

Only references i can find say 1948 .More finch species in Aussie aviaries is what most of us would like.The thing is, we have some have absolute crackers here that we`re only just starting to get going.Red Eared Firetail,Beautiful Firetail and where are any White Bellied Crimson Finches for example ? I `ll be happy with what is available for a very long time and if can claim to be a good breeder of all that we have,then i guess in my 90`s i might long for something new.
Gary`s theory on birds evolving quickly is interesting.I think its the main reason we still do have so many foreign species available.15 years ago Alice Springs had no feral doves,i think the best guess puts the population at 10,000 now.Thats from a few introduced birds and a small gene pool.
I know zoos do some great work but there`s so much we dont know about our own wildlife, lots of our critters are in serious decline and this includes many bird species,do we really need huge guinea pigs or more deer.Knock down some more aviaries to make way for these imports ? Cant we just concentrate on what we do have ?
sorry Arthur i didnt answer your question either.

In a perfect world it would be awesome if every finch breeder adopted 1 species and helped to boost the gene pool , as said time $$$$$ and space are the big questions .
Most of us keep birds for enjoyment and really don't want the stress and worry of trying to breed already endangered species , yes yes we all should do our bit but again it aint a perfect world .
Im kinda biased also , if I were in a position to set up some sort of breeding programme it would be for Aussie natives and I tend not to give too much thought about pumas etc when we have lost and are losing so many of our own natives.
Anyhoo as Ive said before you youngins are the future so go forth and breed , breed , breed birds that is.

It is a sad fact that as humanity expands and coopts every available planetary resource in order to attain that oxymoronic goal of “sustainable growth” that all other species become competitors – even finches. I know the economists can’t win this one and as a species we show no will to live up to our specific designation (Homo sapiens – wise man). Let’s hope I’m wrong but all the warning signs are blaring. In the Australian environment many granivorous birds (finches, parrots, pigeons) seem to be particularly prone to contraction but luckily they also happen to be the most easily and widely kept of the native animals. In order to stave off the day when species disappear our governments should be advancing properly conducted aviculture rather than doing everything to discourage it.

If you read Mike Fiedler's article on the loss of finch species in Australian Aviculture (http://savethegouldian.org/articles/dis ... birds.html) he makes the point that maintaining a species equates with sustaining genetic diversity and this can not be done by just a handful of accredited zoos. In the face of the inevitability of a changing environment, genetic diversity is a species only protection against extinction and there just aren’t the physical or financial resources for existing zoos to make a significant contribution to this aspect of conservation. Aside from long-lived species like flamingos, cassowaries and the odd bird of paradise I reckon Australian zoos rely on domestic avicultural sources for their foreign birds and not each other. Domestic finch aviculture has proved itself to be a valid conservation tool and if you look at the operation of the Save the Gouldian Fund it is able to fund and extend genuine conservation research. I hope that there is still room in the great Australian dream for an aviary in the back-yard and within aviculture for new entrants in the field be they domestic or imported.