Trade In White-Rumped Shama Kittacincla Malabarica Demands Strong National And International Responses

Owing to its remarkable singing ability, the White-rumped Shama Kittacincla malabarica is a particularly popular species in the South-East Asian cage-bird trade. Despite domestic trade being regulated in six out of nine South-East Asian range states, demand continues to put a heavy strain on the region's White-rumped Shama populations.The lack of international regulation further facilitates unsustainable trade in the species. We gathered data from seizure records, market surveys and online surveys to assess domestic and international trade dynamics and to suggest appropriate conservation responses to both. Combined data from surveys across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, carried out between 2007 and 2018, found a total of 8,271 White-rumped Shama for sale openly in local bird markets. Another 917 were found for sale online in six snapshot internet trade studies in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand between 2016 and 2018. In addition, 432 seizures were recorded between 2008 and 2018, involving 15,480 birds; significantly, 291 of these occurred between January 2014 and June 2018. Of all recorded seizure incidents, 12% involved international trade and accounted for 67% (10,376) of all White-rumped Shama seized. Because most seizure records are incomplete, the true figure is likelyto be much higher. We strongly recommend that White-rumped Shama be listed in Appendix II of CITES and that, as a stopgap measure, the range states list the species in Appendix III of CITES. Such CITES listings would facilitate improved documentation and assessment of the White-rumped Shama trade and provide authorities with a muchneeded tool to combat unsustainable international trade in the species.