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| Homebound: Gulliver's rescue from the South Pacific continues. The blue and gold macaw is closer to home. (Photo courtesy of Sybil Erden.) |
Blue and gold macaw's journey home
Sybil Erden
Special to the Vail Sun
Editor's Note: Sybil Erden is director of The Oasis exotic bird sanctuary located in Cascabel near Redington Pass in neighboring Cochise County.
The e-mail arrived April 6th 2008 with the heading "Bird Inquiry."
"Aloha, Thought this might be of interest - Here is (the) story of the shipwreck on Fanning Island and why there has been a Macaw abandoned there..."
An abandoned American-born parrot named Gulliver was waiting on an island in the South Pacific. Following the shipwreck of the American boat, the Darla Jean, in early December of 2007, a young Blue and Gold Macaw named Gulliver, was left stranded and abandoned by his American owners who left the remote Fanning Island, a small coral atoll straddling the equator in the South Pacific Ocean. Gulliver was under the threat of death, as The Republic of Kiribati (Kee-ree-baas) does not allow the importation of any animals. Although a puppy had also been abandoned, the dog Snickers had been rescued with the help and intervention of the Hawaiian Humane Society. He was being moved from Fanning ultimately to his new home with Jack in Las Vegas.
But Gulliver was not as lucky nor was his situation as easy. As a CITES Appendix II ("threatened" in the wild bird) abandoned without papers, even the Hawaiian Humane Society could not obtain his freedom and return to the U.S. CITES is an acronym for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Fanning Island is a speck in the ocean, 1,000 miles southwest of Hawaii, which has neither electricity nor any running water. Gulliver had been left with and was being cared for by a local family who only had breadfruit and rice to feed him. Housed in a makeshift cage constructed from a scrap of chain-link fencing, Gulliver remained talkative and upbeat. In a society which does not have the word for or concept of "pets," Gulliver captivated, amazed and amused his island caregivers.
Shortly after The Oasis was contacted, I committed our resources, up to and including the sale of my precious motorcycle, to the safe return of Gulliver.
I called everyone I had ever met or spoken to in media, animal rights, avian welfare, and, thankfully was given many names and telephone numbers to contact. I began moving through the quagmire called United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and CITES, the international convention which decides which flora and fauna are endangered or threatened.
Even with direct contacts, legal problems remained with bringing Gulliver back into the U.S. since Gulliver's previous caregivers had left U.S. waters without the necessary federal paperwork to bring him back in, there were major difficulties. Having left the U.S. without proper proof of American captive birth, Gulliver fell under both the federal Wild bird Conservation Act jurisdiction, and international CITES jurisdiction. It was as though he were a "wild-caught" exotic animal. The secondary problem which arose was the fact that while the U.S. is a signatory to the CITES Convention, the Republic of Kiribati was not, and therefore could not provide the appropriate CITES exportation permits. After going around this obstacle for awhile, I was told that an "Export Permit In Lieu of CITES" could be provided by Kiribati and would be reviewed by USFWS.
The Oasis put word out through our "OasisNews" and on our Web site regarding this rescue and the difficulties bringing Gulliver home. Within a week about $3,000 was raised for the rescue. But since we need to bring a veterinarian along, at the air-fare cost of $1,500-plus per person, the two of us immediately would use up these funds. We put a small painting of a Blue and Gold up on our Web site for auction. Slowly money continued to come in.
Every day seemed to bring new challenges. The Oasis continued working with the appropriate agencies, USDA in California and Maryland, U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Virginia as well as the CITES authorities, to obtain permission to bring Gulliver back into the U.S. But with every step forward came another half-step back or to the side. The dance was slow and yet dizzying!
On Wednesday, May 14th, I downloaded the forms to send to USDA and USFWS. The few pages of forms were accompanied by over 200 pages of instructions written in small type legalese.
I remembered why I did not become an attorney.
I called one of The Oasis' lawyers, Tim, for help. He told me that while he knew nothing about CITES he was well-versed in legalese and would be able to help me. After I dropped off a box of forms and instructions on Thursday, Tim spent six (pro bono) hours going through the paperwork. The next morning at 7:30 a.m., he and I met at his office and went through the papers which he had annotated, highlighted and tabbed.
But nowhere in the 200 pages of instructions did anything discuss what language had to be on the "Export Permit in Lieu of CITES" document.
I was frustrated.
Sunday, the 18th, I spent 11 hours pulling together all the documentation and filling out forms. I decided that the export permit had to have the same information as the import paperwork, only additionally describing how Gulliver had arrived and why the bird was not a native of Kiribati.
I ran into Benson and overnighted the paperwork and appropriate, non-refundable filing fees to the proper authorities. When I hadn't heard from USFWS two days later, I called them again and the papers were located. I was told that they needed to wait for the export permit to arrive before they could move forward, and at that time the Export permit would have to go to Geneva, Switzerland to the Secretariat of CITES for review and approval.
My heart sank.
On Sunday, May 25th, since sending out the paperwork I felt more anxious and nervous than before. All I can do now is wait, and I know that I am not good at waiting.
I can only hold on, visualizing Gulliver's safe and healthy return to the U.S. and know that with the help of sympathetic U.S. officials, Gulliver slowly moves closer to home. Everyone's goal is to bring Gulliver back to Sanctuary in the United States as soon as possible, before his time, truly, runs out.
May 31st - Saturday
This week has gone by quickly, yet drags on me as though I were carrying weights.
I was confident that the permit paperwork would move through CITES. We had gone through all the regulations and, I thought, there would be no logical way that we could be turned down.
I began calling my contact Tim at USFWS a few minutes after 10 a.m. in the morning (his time) on Wednesday. I got his voice mail and left a message. I called several more times during the day, and when I again got his machine, left no messages until late in the afternoon.
By Thursday morning I went into the office at 6 a.m. and decided to call USFWS earlier and got my contact on first try. He immediately apologized for not getting back to me.
"I figured you hadn't heard from CITES" was my response.
But he had and the news was not good. There were internal, apparently not-obvious-unless-in-the-know CITES regulations (Res. Conv. 9.3) regarding paperwork needing to be on file even from non-signatory countries. Of course, Kiribati had no such papers on file and the chances of getting these papers, at least in any sort of timely fashion, seemed remote at best.
When I asked him to contact CITES again to explain the conundrum we were in, he sighed, sounding overwhelmed and quickly gave me the name and phone number of the gentleman, a Mr. B., at CITES who had in his possession (and had turned down) our "Export Permit in Lieu of CITES." I was told to contact him myself. The call ended.
I looked at the CITES staff list and asked for the head of their Legal Unit, an American lady named Marceil. She was sympathetic. CITES had, she let me know, dealt with this exact portion of their regulations and had "interpreted them in the broadest view" recently for some European countries. She and I spoke for perhaps 20 minutes. She promised to lay some groundwork for the Secretary General and for Mr. B. She, unfortunately, would be out of the office Monday and Tuesday, but if they hadn't gotten to it, she promised to have things finalized by Wednesday.
The end of the day Wednesday will be early morning here. So once again I plan to get up early and speak with her if I have not heard back before then.
June 7, 2008 - Saturday
We are one signature away from bringing Gulliver home. Long story short: We made it through the federal quagmire. Our federal paperwork is on its way, but we still need one signature on one paper from Kiribati to get Gulliver back into the U.S.
Editor's Note: Gulliver is currently in quarantine per U.S. bird importation laws until Aug. 8. Log on to the Oasis Web site at www.the-oasis.org to read the complete story.
Sybil Erden
Special to the Vail Sun
Editor's Note: Sybil Erden is director of The Oasis exotic bird sanctuary located in Cascabel near Redington Pass in neighboring Cochise County.
The e-mail arrived April 6th 2008 with the heading "Bird Inquiry."
"Aloha, Thought this might be of interest - Here is (the) story of the shipwreck on Fanning Island and why there has been a Macaw abandoned there..."
An abandoned American-born parrot named Gulliver was waiting on an island in the South Pacific. Following the shipwreck of the American boat, the Darla Jean, in early December of 2007, a young Blue and Gold Macaw named Gulliver, was left stranded and abandoned by his American owners who left the remote Fanning Island, a small coral atoll straddling the equator in the South Pacific Ocean. Gulliver was under the threat of death, as The Republic of Kiribati (Kee-ree-baas) does not allow the importation of any animals. Although a puppy had also been abandoned, the dog Snickers had been rescued with the help and intervention of the Hawaiian Humane Society. He was being moved from Fanning ultimately to his new home with Jack in Las Vegas.
But Gulliver was not as lucky nor was his situation as easy. As a CITES Appendix II ("threatened" in the wild bird) abandoned without papers, even the Hawaiian Humane Society could not obtain his freedom and return to the U.S. CITES is an acronym for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
Fanning Island is a speck in the ocean, 1,000 miles southwest of Hawaii, which has neither electricity nor any running water. Gulliver had been left with and was being cared for by a local family who only had breadfruit and rice to feed him. Housed in a makeshift cage constructed from a scrap of chain-link fencing, Gulliver remained talkative and upbeat. In a society which does not have the word for or concept of "pets," Gulliver captivated, amazed and amused his island caregivers.
Shortly after The Oasis was contacted, I committed our resources, up to and including the sale of my precious motorcycle, to the safe return of Gulliver.
I called everyone I had ever met or spoken to in media, animal rights, avian welfare, and, thankfully was given many names and telephone numbers to contact. I began moving through the quagmire called United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and CITES, the international convention which decides which flora and fauna are endangered or threatened.
Even with direct contacts, legal problems remained with bringing Gulliver back into the U.S. since Gulliver's previous caregivers had left U.S. waters without the necessary federal paperwork to bring him back in, there were major difficulties. Having left the U.S. without proper proof of American captive birth, Gulliver fell under both the federal Wild bird Conservation Act jurisdiction, and international CITES jurisdiction. It was as though he were a "wild-caught" exotic animal. The secondary problem which arose was the fact that while the U.S. is a signatory to the CITES Convention, the Republic of Kiribati was not, and therefore could not provide the appropriate CITES exportation permits. After going around this obstacle for awhile, I was told that an "Export Permit In Lieu of CITES" could be provided by Kiribati and would be reviewed by USFWS.
The Oasis put word out through our "OasisNews" and on our Web site regarding this rescue and the difficulties bringing Gulliver home. Within a week about $3,000 was raised for the rescue. But since we need to bring a veterinarian along, at the air-fare cost of $1,500-plus per person, the two of us immediately would use up these funds. We put a small painting of a Blue and Gold up on our Web site for auction. Slowly money continued to come in.
Every day seemed to bring new challenges. The Oasis continued working with the appropriate agencies, USDA in California and Maryland, U.S. Fish and Wildlife in Virginia as well as the CITES authorities, to obtain permission to bring Gulliver back into the U.S. But with every step forward came another half-step back or to the side. The dance was slow and yet dizzying!
On Wednesday, May 14th, I downloaded the forms to send to USDA and USFWS. The few pages of forms were accompanied by over 200 pages of instructions written in small type legalese.
I remembered why I did not become an attorney.
I called one of The Oasis' lawyers, Tim, for help. He told me that while he knew nothing about CITES he was well-versed in legalese and would be able to help me. After I dropped off a box of forms and instructions on Thursday, Tim spent six (pro bono) hours going through the paperwork. The next morning at 7:30 a.m., he and I met at his office and went through the papers which he had annotated, highlighted and tabbed.
But nowhere in the 200 pages of instructions did anything discuss what language had to be on the "Export Permit in Lieu of CITES" document.
I was frustrated.
Sunday, the 18th, I spent 11 hours pulling together all the documentation and filling out forms. I decided that the export permit had to have the same information as the import paperwork, only additionally describing how Gulliver had arrived and why the bird was not a native of Kiribati.
I ran into Benson and overnighted the paperwork and appropriate, non-refundable filing fees to the proper authorities. When I hadn't heard from USFWS two days later, I called them again and the papers were located. I was told that they needed to wait for the export permit to arrive before they could move forward, and at that time the Export permit would have to go to Geneva, Switzerland to the Secretariat of CITES for review and approval.
My heart sank.
On Sunday, May 25th, since sending out the paperwork I felt more anxious and nervous than before. All I can do now is wait, and I know that I am not good at waiting.
I can only hold on, visualizing Gulliver's safe and healthy return to the U.S. and know that with the help of sympathetic U.S. officials, Gulliver slowly moves closer to home. Everyone's goal is to bring Gulliver back to Sanctuary in the United States as soon as possible, before his time, truly, runs out.
May 31st - Saturday
This week has gone by quickly, yet drags on me as though I were carrying weights.
I was confident that the permit paperwork would move through CITES. We had gone through all the regulations and, I thought, there would be no logical way that we could be turned down.
I began calling my contact Tim at USFWS a few minutes after 10 a.m. in the morning (his time) on Wednesday. I got his voice mail and left a message. I called several more times during the day, and when I again got his machine, left no messages until late in the afternoon.
By Thursday morning I went into the office at 6 a.m. and decided to call USFWS earlier and got my contact on first try. He immediately apologized for not getting back to me.
"I figured you hadn't heard from CITES" was my response.
But he had and the news was not good. There were internal, apparently not-obvious-unless-in-the-know CITES regulations (Res. Conv. 9.3) regarding paperwork needing to be on file even from non-signatory countries. Of course, Kiribati had no such papers on file and the chances of getting these papers, at least in any sort of timely fashion, seemed remote at best.
When I asked him to contact CITES again to explain the conundrum we were in, he sighed, sounding overwhelmed and quickly gave me the name and phone number of the gentleman, a Mr. B., at CITES who had in his possession (and had turned down) our "Export Permit in Lieu of CITES." I was told to contact him myself. The call ended.
I looked at the CITES staff list and asked for the head of their Legal Unit, an American lady named Marceil. She was sympathetic. CITES had, she let me know, dealt with this exact portion of their regulations and had "interpreted them in the broadest view" recently for some European countries. She and I spoke for perhaps 20 minutes. She promised to lay some groundwork for the Secretary General and for Mr. B. She, unfortunately, would be out of the office Monday and Tuesday, but if they hadn't gotten to it, she promised to have things finalized by Wednesday.
The end of the day Wednesday will be early morning here. So once again I plan to get up early and speak with her if I have not heard back before then.
June 7, 2008 - Saturday
We are one signature away from bringing Gulliver home. Long story short: We made it through the federal quagmire. Our federal paperwork is on its way, but we still need one signature on one paper from Kiribati to get Gulliver back into the U.S.
Editor's Note: Gulliver is currently in quarantine per U.S. bird importation laws until Aug. 8. Log on to the Oasis Web site at www.the-oasis.org to read the complete story.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of vailsun.com.
Michael Walsh wrote on Jul 29, 2008 1:29 PM:
" In fact the traditional pets, before contact with Europeans, were not cats and dogs but Frigate birds. I have photos of these sitting on perches, just like hawks do in the UK.
Cats (and 'European' dogs) did not appear until after the colonisation of Kiribati in 1892. The I Kiribati have two words for dogs:
- 'Te kiri' : the original dogs which arrived with humans, which were small and black
- 'Te Kumea' (as in 'come here') for all other kinds of dog
As someone who has been married into Kiribati society for more than 30 years, I completely agree with your other commentator that many I Kiribati familes keep (and well look after) pets, although there are sometimes problems with feral dogs.
The I Kiribati word for cat is 'Kattam' which confirms that cats were also brought in by the British after 1892.
I have a wonderful photograph of a dog, a cat, and a heron all sitting in a row on the edge of the lagoon, waiting to pounce on any small fish that approach the beach. Everyone in Kiribati fishes!
I am delighted that Gulliver has returned safely to the USA.
Michael Walsh "
Cats (and 'European' dogs) did not appear until after the colonisation of Kiribati in 1892. The I Kiribati have two words for dogs:
- 'Te kiri' : the original dogs which arrived with humans, which were small and black
- 'Te Kumea' (as in 'come here') for all other kinds of dog
As someone who has been married into Kiribati society for more than 30 years, I completely agree with your other commentator that many I Kiribati familes keep (and well look after) pets, although there are sometimes problems with feral dogs.
The I Kiribati word for cat is 'Kattam' which confirms that cats were also brought in by the British after 1892.
I have a wonderful photograph of a dog, a cat, and a heron all sitting in a row on the edge of the lagoon, waiting to pounce on any small fish that approach the beach. Everyone in Kiribati fishes!
I am delighted that Gulliver has returned safely to the USA.
Michael Walsh "
Paul wrote on Jul 23, 2008 10:49 PM:
- Kiribati does allow the import of animals, providing you observe the quarantine and health regulations
- I'Kiribati people do know what pets are and in fact many people keep pets, mostly dogs and cats. "