Written question asked by Lord Moran (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Rooker (Labour) on Wednesday, 4 June 2008.

Animal Welfare: Wild Birds

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they have taken to ensure that captive populations of species that they intend to remove from Schedule 4 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 are DNA-tested to check that they are of legitimate stock and to provide baseline data on any future parenting claims made for the species.

Answer: My department has no plans to carry out DNA testing on all birds that may be removed from Schedule 4. The department has no evidence to suggest that the population of birds currently listed in Schedule 4 is other than from primarily legitimate sources. The costs of DNA-testing the whole captive population would be prohibitively expensive and would not be justified by any possible enforcement or conservation benefit. Any DNA testing to be carried out by Animal Health will be based on a risk and intelligence-led approach. Modern breeding techniques use artificial insemination from a variety of possible male donors. The movement and death of many of the birds involved in this process means that any comprehensive testing scheme for all birds subject to registration would simply not be logistically possible.

Secondary information