The World Parrot Trust (WPT) announced today the launch of the FlyFree Campaign, an international alliance of bird conservation and welfare groups working together to halt the unsustainable trade in wild caught parrots and return parrots to the wild.

After hundreds of years of active trade in wildlife, a coordinated global effort has been initiated to end the trade in wild caught parrots and return the birds to the wild.

The World Parrot Trust (WPT) announced today the launch of the FlyFree Campaign, an international alliance of animal welfare and conservation groups working together to halt the unsustainable trade in wild caught parrots - a first in the global effort to save parrots, one of the most endangered groups of birds on the planet.

“This campaign really couldn’t have come at a better time to help save parrots,” stated Dr. James D. Gilardi, Executive Director for the World Parrot Trust. “In the last few days we were notified of a massive confiscation of 300 Grey Parrots at an airport in Cameroon.” As part of the new FlyFree movement these birds are receiving emergency funding for their care and release, which is taking place at Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon, Africa.

Over the past several decades the trade in wild caught birds has caused the suffering and loss of millions of birds. Legal and illegal harvests for the domestic and international pet trade are destructive to wild parrot populations and few birds survive from trapping to the point of sale. Those that do survive can often carry diseases, some of which are dangerous to humans, are costly to manage, and can lead to disease outbreaks in the importing countries.

Read the full story at http://www.prlog.org/10448665-global-coalition-formed-to-fight-wild-caught-parrot-trade.html