[seasongs]

Oh yes, finally something I can comment on! I’m a wildlife veterinarian, parrots were always my favourite animals and growing up I wanted to become a “parrot vet”. Throughout my studies and work experience I discovered so many heartbreaking things about these animals that instead I chose to dedicate myself to the wild. The parrot crisis is much bigger than what the article says. We are living a period where parrots are struggling to survive in their native range, we are getting more knowledge on how sick they get in captivity (some parrots literally self-mutilate for lack of stimulation) and we are getting bigger and bigger colonies of invasive species (mostly monk and ring neck parakeet) throughout the US and the EU. I’ve actually been working on a documentary on this topic for the past two years, if you are interested I can share it when I’m done. In the meantime I suggest you reaching out to

https://www.allianceforparrots.org/

[smusamashah]

Why does it advise to buy from a sanctuary instead of a shop?

[seasongs]

It is recommended: a) because you are rehoming an animal that probably went trough a lot and, hopefully, giving them the love they deserve. b) taking care of a parrot properly is very difficult, hence a lot of people give them to sanctuaries that are full to the brim c) decreasing the demand of these species. Both their decrease in their native range and their presence in non native ranges is, even now, caused by the demand of them as pets. Poaching in the Central and Southern America is incredibly high (in certain areas of Honduras is 100% for example) and they are poached to be sold to middlemen that will import them to the rest of the world. Now, since CITES, it’s difficult to find poached animals in NA and EU, but definitely not impossible. The main market is Asia, where they can be sold locally or then transferred to the west. At the same time, aviaries or “parrot mills” (some people call them like that) are the only reason why we have invasive parrots. If a couple of non native species get released by a distracted owners, the couple just ends up dying because they are not used to the environment. If a stock of hundreds or even thousands of animals of the same species escape an aviary they will first become a colony, then an invasive species. This phenomenon is called propagule pressure. Invasive species destabilise the natural balance, and invasive species of parrots are stealing nesting sites of owls and bats already. This is why we should at all cost, decrease the demand of them.

[vfclists]

Because shops either breed then unnecessarily or they are wild parrots captured from abroad?