FEATURE Introduction


This report will detail the successful rescue and rehabilitation of 16 Yellow- shouldered Amazon Parrots and 94 Brown-throated Parakeets by Echo. This would not have been possible without the rapid and generous funding from the World Wild Fund for Nature, World Parrot Trust, Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, and many other donors. These wild birds were intended to be shipped illegally from the Caribbean island of Bonaire to neighboring Curaçao where they would have been sold into the international pet trade. Thanks to the joint efforts of the National Park organization STINAPA and the police, these birds were confiscated and delivered into the care of Echo. After several months of care, all 16 parrots and 87 parakeets have been released back into the wild.


The Problem The Yellow-shouldered Amazon Parrot is still being illegally collected in Bonaire. Chicks are being poached from their nests before they have reached fledgling age and even fledged chicks have been caught. The parrots are then sold as pets on Bonaire, or shipped to the neighboring island of Curaçao where they enter into the global pet trade. To prevent this illegal trade, in 2002, the government of Bonaire had metal identification rings put on the legs of all existing pet birds. Since that time, any pet bird found without a ring is considered illegal. The policy is enforced and illegally held birds are being confiscated.


BIRD SCENE 07


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