The Illegal Parrot Trade

Golden conure (Guaruba guarouba), photo: Steve Bailey

Did you know that President William McKinley had a parrot named “Washington Post?” The parrot trend has certainly persisted through time—there are more than 40 million kept as pets in the U.S. alone. While it makes sense that these intelligent and bejeweled animals would make excellent pets, it’s anything but sensible when the illegal animal trade threatens biodiversity and accelerates extinction.

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Qatari sheik takes endangered bird species under his wing

In Qatar, Ryan Watson, blue macaw coordinartor for al-Wabra Wildlife Preservation, watches a young Spix's macaw named Jewel in the facility's nursery. There are just 76 Spix's macaws left on Earth, all in captivity. Lindsay Borthwick / For The Washington Post

AL-SHEEHANIYA, Qatar — Cobalt-plumed and flapping, Jewel, a young Spix’s macaw, hops into a plastic bowl. She’s well trained in the routine. Her handler, Ryan Watson, sets the bowl on a scale. He’s pleased. The 4-month-old parrot is growing.

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Baby chick helping to bring world’s rarest parrot back from extinction

A Spix’s Macaw chick enjoys a nap. The species has almost vanished from the wild (Pictures: News Team)The world’s rarest parrot is being brought back from the verge of extinction – helped by the arrival of this healthy chick.

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Spix's Macaw at Loro Parque finally out of quarantine

Spix MacawsLoro Parque's new Spix's macaw male (Cyanopsitta spixii) that arrived from Brazil in March is now out of quarantine and ready to mate. At present he has been housed in the Loro Parque Fundaciòn's Spix's macaw breeding centre in an enclosure next to three other females to get him used to his new environment.
As the three female Spix's are his sisters, it is hoped that he will choose one of the older females as his mate as they are mature enough to breed.

Three Spix macaws, one of the world’s rarest birds, hatched in captivity

Spix’s Chicks at 7-8 weeksSuccessful hatching of three Spix's macaws

June 2009. Three critically endangered Spix's macaws have hatched at the Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation Centre (AWWP), located in the Arabian Gulf State of Qatar.

What makes this breeding success so important is that it came from AWWP's genetically most important pairing, including the genetically most important female in the international studbook managed population.

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