EEP Crowned pigeon number 4

EEP STUDBOOK CROWNED PIGEONS
Victoria crowned pigeons (Goura victoria) are still common in remote lowland forests, far
away from human habitation. When flushed from the ground, they fly only a short distance to
overhead tree perches where they fall easily a prey to the shotgun. In accessible areas
crowned pigeons have been exterminated. There is no doubt, as the country is developed, that
these unique birds will come under the shadow of extinction unless a serious determined
effort is made to preserve them (Coates, 1977).
At he moment crowned pigeons are listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES, 1993) and are considered
"rare" by IUCN (1990). As a consequence the whole genus Goura is placed on Annex C1 of
the CITES-list of the EEC (CITES, 1993), which gives crowned pigeons in Europe the same
status as an Appendix I species (Nijboer and King, 1996). Trade in species listed on Appendix
I is not allowed (although exceptions can be made), while trade in Appendix II species is
allowed if someone has a permit (CITES, 1993). An attempt made by Joeke Nijboer,
European Species Coordinator for crowned pigeons in Europe, to place crowned pigeons
world-wide on Appendix I, to restrict the trade in crowned pigeons, failed, because too little is
known about their status in the wild and because it is said there’s enough territory for these
species (IUCN, 1993).
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