Wildlife trade, deforestation threaten Africa's parrots

As many as 8 million African parrots have been removed from the wild over the last 25 years and South Africa has emerged as a global hub for the wild-caught bird trade. This is mostly due to traders and importers taking advantage of deforestation and ineffective enforcement.

"Cavity-nesting forest specialists like African parrots are particularly sensitive to the selective removal of large hardwoods due to their reliance on these trees for sustenance and nesting opportunities," Dr Steve Boyes, of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, told National Geographic, "[w]e simply do not know how well African parrots are adapting to this rapidly changing continent."

"Africa's parrots are charismatic, colourful, and larger than life," Boyes said - "[t]hey have found their way into the hearts and minds of private collectors, parrot enthusiasts and aviculturalists around the world. Millions upon millions of African parrots have been removed from the wild over the last 2 years [...] There is no way that African parrot populations that we have studied so far would be able to sustain this constant pressure from the wild-caught bird trade," Boyes says.

Read the full article on http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com.