Costa Rica Relocation Blog

Bringing birds into Costa Rica has become difficult to impossible.  There was an embargo put on the importation of birds over a year ago due to the Avian flu.  This however is not the only reason for the embargo.

There is an entity called the MAG that has made it impossible to bring your pet birds into Costa Rica.  Along with a whole series of tests that have to be done to show proof that they are not bringing any diseases into Costa Rica, they have come up with a new law which is barbaric in nature.

You need a CITES from the US and a CITES permit from Costa Rica but in order to obtain these permits you must meet the requirements of the MAG.  Aside from the tests, you must have the tendon cut on each bird that permits them to fly.  There is no way around this.  If you can even find a vet willing to do this in the US, it is a horrible thing to do to a bird.

If you can not find a vet to do this in the states and I don’t think that you will, this surgery will take place in Costa Rica by the vet at the airport before the bird is permitted to leave the airport.

Now this gets tricky in that you can’t get the CITES permit from Costa Rica until you have had this surgery done.

For me and other bird lovers, this simply says that I can not bring my beloved bird into Costa Rica.

This is the new law that has been passed and I don’t see it being turned over as Costa Rica is very behind in the times.

Should you have any other questions or need direction on bringing in your other pets, let us know by email.

Filed under: Animals, Moving pets to Costa Rica