UK- Exotic Birds Stolen to Order

THEFTS of exotic birds have doubled in Britain this year, with more than a thousand birds vanishing from homes and shops, as gangs steal to order.

Bird owners' homes have been targeted by the thieves, who have left jewellery, music centres and computers to steal parrots, cockatoos and macaws, worth up to £1,000 ($1,600) each.

Last year there were 572 exotic birds stolen in Britain, according to the National Theft Register of Exotic Species. There have been more than 1,000 thefts in 1999, a record figure.

John Hayward, who the is theft investigator for the Parrot Society, said that the birds have become fashion items and they are becoming more difficult to buy as more countries sign up to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, which makes it illegal to remove many birds from the wild.

"The supply of the birds simply does not meet the demand. If you want a macaw but do not want to pay up to £15,000 ($24,000) then it is not difficult to get one stolen to order," Mr Hayward said. Much of the trade is done in pubs, with no questions asked about the bird's history. The most ordinary parrot fetches £500 ($800).