Up to 78,000 parrots are poached annually in Mexico for shipment to the pet trade industry in the United States. 75% of these birds die before making it to market. This type of poaching puts unreasonable pressure on an already declining population.

“Clearly this is not a sustainable market. Smuggling of certain endangered parrots, such as the yellow headed parrot and the yellow naped parrot, into the United States is increasing, and this demand is pushing already depleted parrot populations in Mexico to the brink of extinction,” says Juan Carlos Cantu Guzman, manager of the Mexico program at Defenders of Wildlife and lead author of the report. “Birds are being taken from the wild, sometimes plucked right out of the nest, and dying at alarming rates for sale in the pet trade. Next to habitat loss, parrot trapping posses the greatest threat to the birds’ survival in Mexico.”

Read the full report at CommonDreams.org