Abstract
The International Loriinae Society (ILS) was officially launched in March 1985. The organization grew out of the Lory Group which was started several years earlier by Roland Cristo. A group of four lory/lorikeet breeders formed ILS and created a set of goals for the new organization. Joe Longo became the first President, Fred Bauer the Vice President, Margi Longo the Secretary/ Treasurer and I the Editor. And so ILS was born and is today still very active despite some bumps in the road along the way.
The goals of ILS remain the same today as follows:
1. To the building of self-sustaining captive bred populations of all the LORIINAE species possible.
2. To disseminate avicultural and scientific information on the family LORIINAE to all members and other interested parties through the Bulletin.
3. To take an Annual Census of the captive population of the family LORIINAE.
4. To the re-introduction of any threatened LORIINAE species when there is a self-sustaining captive breeding population and when protected reserves in their native habitats have been secured.
5. To assist where possible, the preservation of the family Loriinae in the wild.
Over the years ILS has gained members from almost every corner of the world. Also, affiliates have sprung up in Canada, England and Europe. With this world wide network and stable leadership, ILS has been able to accomplish a great deal. ILS has had only three presidents: Joe Longo 1985-1987, Carole Wheeler 1988-1989, and Phyllis Martin 1990 to the present. The Vice President's office has been filled by Fred Bauer 1985- 1988 and Dick Schroeder 1989 to the present. The Secretary/Treasurer office was in the good hands of Margi Longo 1985-1988, Craig Snodgrass 1989-1990, Sharon Casmier 1990-1991, and Charles Martin 1992 to the present. Special mention should also be made of Vicki Fletcher who was our Census Registrar and mailing label person for many, many years. In addition, all of our foreign Vice Presidents have played a big role and continue to do so in keeping the lines of communication open and working together on many projects.
Besides the Annual Census, a studbook program was begun early with the realization that within five to six years the importation of wild caught birds would halt. Some members, especially those abroad, had the vision to realize that unless studbook control was initiated, many of the species in captivity would die out. Today there are a number of species on the list of down and almost out. There are, however, bright spots and certainly some of the very common species will remain despite no studbook. A number of members around the world have started to work together to maintain the birds we presently have in inventory so to speak. In some cases, legal forms are being used to insure that young sold from one breeder to another will be maintained in a studbook.
ILS has begun a series of limited edition prints with all the funds from the sale of them going directly to field research projects and conservation of the family Loriinae. So far, over $7,000 dollars have been expended on programs such as the field surveys of the Bluestreaked Lory, lories of Buru and Sumba, Red and Blue Lory and several other projects. Prints of the Tahitian (Blue) Lory and the Black-capped (Jobi) Lory have already been printed with the Ornate Lory and Dusky Lory to come. In addition, a series of six small prints, the size of the U.S. duck stamp prints, featuring the six lory /lorikeet species of the Solomon Islands along with a stamp series will be available in May of 1996.
In the next few years ILS will be spearheading a number of interesting projects with the family Loriinae both in the wild and in captivity. If you are interested in...