Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How did the pet trade threaten wild parrot populations?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Psittaciform
Black-capped parakeet (Pyrrhura rupicola).
The pet trade has significantly threatened wild parrot populations by driving the depletion of species through large-scale capture for commercial sale. The high demand for parrots as pets has led to the following impacts:12
- Population Depletion: The popularity of certain species, such as the African gray parrot, has resulted in hundreds of thousands of birds being removed from the wild for the international market. By the end of the 20th century, this pressure contributed to more than 90 species being threatened with extinction.13
- High Mortality Rates: A major factor exacerbating the threat is the mistreatment of birds during transit. Due to poor conditions during capture and transport, only a small fraction of the many individuals taken from the wild survive to reach the safety of a cage.13
- Regulatory Response: Because of these threats, many governments have implemented laws to forbid the export of wild parrots, and international agreements like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have been established to regulate and reduce the commercial trade of endangered species.12