A PARROT is a gloriously long-lived thing, often chalking up half a century -- but only in its own wild kingdom. Make an apparently brattish pet out of it and its life stalls and plunges to 5 years, says the United Kingdom's Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

The EIA has conducted extensive studies on the habitats of wild birds, particularly the rarer varieties of parrots that are teetering on the edge of extinction. It aims to start a major drive against the illegal wild bird trade flourishing throughout the world.

Human bestiality is an intrinsic part of the animal trade: callousness ensures that wild birds not only die young, but that they often die in agony. A good 25 to 33 per cent die on the road to warehouses; birds in captivity are incarcerated in appallingly filthy, disease-infested and crowded conditions. They suffer from lack of ventilation, decompression and chill. Approximately 10 to 20 per cent die of shock. And another 12 per cent are lost in air transit between countries.

Matters became a bit better after 1991, when protests were truculently raised against avian trading. It soon snowballed into a widespread public outcry. The five key exporters of wild birds -- Indonesia, Senegal, Tanzania, Guyana and Argentina -- caved in to a volley of criticism and formulated stringent conservation policies. Guyana has slapped a ban on all wildlife exports and Argentina has stopped exporting its famous Blue-fronted Amazon, a much-coveted and seriously endangered parrot. Senegal followed suit, declaring that its African grey parrots are no longer for sale.

At its end, the United States, a major bird importing country, has introduced the Wild Bird Conservation Act. It makes it mandatory for traders to produce evidence that the birds they are selling are bred in captivity or that their caging will not adversely affect conservation.