#africangreyparrot — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #africangreyparrot, aggregated by home.social.
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Parrot Deaths Highlight Urgent Need to Reform CITES
Three critically endangered African Grey parrots were seized in Norway in 2019 after being illegally smuggled and they were later euthanised. These intelligent birds had potentially 60 years of life to live and the massive tragedy is – they knew that they were going to die!
Generally, international wildlife trade is not forbidden. Rather, it is regulated through CITES an international treaty to prevent illegal trade in wild animals. The industry is worth billions. The treaty needs a radical overhaul writes Professor Ragnhild Sollund for 360Info.
The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered: parrots make popular pets due to their intelligence and sociability, so they have become “over exploited”. Help fight illegal wildlife trade and #Boycott4Wildlife
The tragedy of dead African grey #parrots highlights the need to overhaul #CITES a weak treaty which facilitates rather than stops #wildlife trade #extinction by Prof Ragnild Sollund for @360info_global #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife via @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-78q
Share to Twitter“A #ban on #wildlife #trade would be easier to enforce than the current market, where some trade is legal, some illegal, and which offers ample possibilities for #fraud #corruption Story: @360info_global #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-78q
Share to TwitterOriginally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Written by Professor Ragnhild Sollund. Read the original here.
In November 2019, three African grey parrot chicks (Psittacus erithacus) were seized at Oslo airport by customs inspectors. As endangered species, they did not have the required permits to be transported to Norway. During the month that officials contemplated what should happen to the birds, they were hand reared by veterinarians. Then the decision was made: euthanasia.
These highly intelligent birds had a potential 60-year life ahead of them; a life that was abruptly concluded in the hands of the vet. “I have euthanised many animals, but I cried when I euthanised these birds,” she said. “They understood… [And I did] not want to work as the Norwegian environment agency’s executioner of endangered species.”
In Norway, this was the standard outcome for illegally traded animals that are listed in CITES, the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. On March 3, International Wildlife Day, it highlights why addressing the wildlife trade, its regulation and enforcement, is urgent.
Generally, international wildlife trade is not forbidden. Rather, it is regulated through CITES. The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered: parrots make popular pets due to their intelligence and sociability, so they have become “over exploited”, meaning the trade endangers the survival of the species. But the concept of over exploitation fails to cover the individual suffering or death of the animals involved in the trade. In view of species justice, any exploitation may be too much.
CITES entered into force in 1975. Eighty-four parties have signed the convention, including the European Union as one party. Each country must have a management authority, and all countries are obliged to submit annual reports to the CITES secretariat.
Animals are listed on three appendices of CITES, according to how endangered they are. The African grey is listed on appendix I as threatened with extinction. It was moved from appendix II in 2016, since trade in them was no longer deemed ‘sustainable’. Currently 5,950 species of animals and 32,800 species of plants are listed across all three appendices.
CITES has been criticised for being an overly human-centred convention. It fails to take into consideration the fact that animals are sentient beings with capacity to suffer who have interest in living their lives in their natural habitats, free from human inflicted harm.
Instead, CITES frames wildlife species, whether plants or animals, as resources that are available for humans to exploit, until exploitation reaches a level that threatens the survival of a species. According to this logic, one individual can easily be disposed of and replaced by another; an individual’s intrinsic value is not recognised.
CITES has been criticised for not functioning even within its own parameters. For example, many parties to CITES never submit the required annual reports, and much trade is never recorded. And many species become threatened and go extinct from trade without ever being listed on the CITES appendices. For example, there are 10,247 known reptile species in the world, but only 8 percent of the reptile trade is regulated through CITES. Newly discovered species can be swiftly exploited, and 79 percent of traded species are not subject to CITES regulation.
According to CITES records, a staggering 2 million mammals, 5 million birds, 41 million reptiles, half a million amphibians, and 6 million fish were traded legally between 2011-2022.
Animals are used for medicinal purposes (often with no effect), fashion, as game hunting trophies, pets and as high-status food items.
Wildlife trade is big business
Advocacy group Traffic estimates the economic value of legal wildlife trade including plants, at approximately US$323 billion. One important reason for the foundation of CITES was to secure the economic gains of wildlife trade for biodiverse, but poor countries in the global South.
Wildlife trade can be viewed as transnational, global, organised state corporate harm.
Given the general failure of CITES to protect animals from harm and species from extinction, there have been many calls to remodel the agreement. The logic behind CITES implies that the harms of wildlife trade shall continue relentlessly, with new individuals abducted, killed or in other ways exploited in a ‘sustainable’ way for human benefit.
A better CITES would be based around animal protection. Wild animals should have rights not to be exploited as pets, killed for their flesh or skin, teeth or whiskers, tusks, horns, or used for entertainment in zoos, circuses and aqua parks. CITES could rather become an instrument promoting justice both for nature, humans and animals.
One way to do this would be to transform it from a trade convention to an aid convention. The convention could be reformulated to promote species conservation and the protection of individuals’ and species’ rights.
CITES could then become an instrument to funnel economic resources from rich economies in the North to poor economies in the South, if their national budgets partly rely on wildlife trade. Aid, distributed by an accountable secretariat, could be conditional on the ways in which the recipients succeed in protecting the natural environment and its inhabitants.
This system is already in place when it comes to the protection of rainforest: Norway and Germany contribute significantly to the protection of rainforest in places such as Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador through the UN; the amount of economic resources allocated from Norway to these countries depends on how much rainforest is spared from logging and emissions reduced.
A ban on the trade in wild animals would be easier to enforce than the current murky market, in which some trade is legal, other parts illegal, and which demands significant skills by law enforcement officers and offers ample possibilities for fraud.
Ragnhild Sollund is professor at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo, where she has done research into the wildlife trade for 12 years. She is currently leading the research project: Criminal Justice, Wildlife Conservation and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene, which studies the implementation and enforcement of two nature conventions: CITES; and the Bern convention that protects wild animals and their habitats in Europe, in Norway, The United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. Her research is funded by Norwegian Research Council.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Written by Professor Ragnhild Sollund. Read the original here.
ENDS
Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
Global South America S.E. Asia India Africa West Papua & PNGCapped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque
Frill-Necked Lizard Chlamydosaurus kingii
Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing
Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying Fake labels Indigenous Land-grabbing Human rights abuses Deforestation Human health hazardsA 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
Read moreTake Action in Five Ways
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Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
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Pledge your support#AfricanGreyParrot #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #ban #Bird #birds #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CITES #corruption #deforestation #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #fraud #greenwashing #illegalPetTrade #Parrots #poachers #poaching #trade #wildlife
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Watching an African Grey Parrot torment a human being with the sound of an alarm, ....they know what they are doing.
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African Grey Parrots Comic by ArtistikAvenue | Redbubble
🦜 New art drop! “African Grey Parrots Comic” is now live on Redbubble 🎨 This playful piece captures the charm, colour, and clever spirit of these amazing birds. Available on prints, tees, stickers & more! 🛒 Check it out: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/169389124
#AfricanGreyParrot #parrot #birds #birdlover #gift #BirdArt #RedbubbleArtist #ParrotLovers #WallArt #ComicStyle #ArtForSale #ArtistikAvenue #BirdIllustration #PetBirds #FunnyParrot #HomeDecor
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🌍 African grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) #AfricanBirds | #AfricanGreyParrot #CongoGreyParrot #GreyParrot | #HolotropicalParrots #AfricanParrots #GreyParrots #Parrots 📷: Photo by manfredrichter 🦜 #birdsoftheworld #birds
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🌍 Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) #Africanbirds | #GreyParrot #CongoGreyParrot #AfricanGreyParrot #HolotropicalParrots #Parrots #GenusPsittacus #FamilyPsittacidae | #birds🦜 #birdsoftheworld
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This is a #ColoredPencil drawing/painting on watercolor paper of the head of my #AfricanGreyParrot, Corky. I just cut it out, and it will possibly be part of a collage some day. For now it is tacked up on my idea board. I think he’s just so cute 🥰 #BirdArt #Parrots #Birds #Artist #ArtistsOfMastodon
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I had a #africangreyparrot for a long time before we had to re-home her as we had to move across the country and that would have been traumatic for her. This makes me laugh so hard because they act a bit like 3 year-olds who love attention. #parrot
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-54340425 -
#Introduction #introductions #NewHere #TwitterTakeover
Retired clinical #psychologist
#adjunct #psychology instructor, #feminist and #SocialJustice pedagogy. #UDL #SpecsGrading
#TheravadaBuddhist practicing #VipassanaMeditation
liberal. Housekeeper & cook for #AfricanGreyParrot
#Sober 36 years and change.
#PolioSurvivor, class of '59.
I love #Wordle -
What’s my name? How wild parrots identify their young
Ground-breaking research has found that wild parrots teach their chicks unique sound signatures so that they can identify their parents. We are only just scratching the surface of knowledge about these immensely intelligent non-human beings, protect them! Be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
It’s not just humans and #dolphins who use unique sounds 🔊🪇🎶 to connect with their young. #Birds like #parrots also teach their chicks unique sounds so that they can identify their mothers 🦜🎵🥁🦜 #Boycott4Wildlife to protect them! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/05/19/whats-my-name-how-wild-parrots-identify-their-young/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterHumans and dolphins create unique sounds by which individuals are identified and there was some evidence to suggest captive parrots created ‘contact calls’ – special calls used to identify family and friends. But until now, it was not clear how or if this naming process worked in nature.
To test whether contact calls were innate or learned from parents, researchers from Cornell University and the University of California in the U.S. took eggs from the nests of wild green-rumped parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) and swapped them with eggs from other wild wild green-rumped parrotlet nests. Twelve nests were used in the swapping experiment.
Eight additional nests served as controls, where the eggs were removed but then put back without swapping.
By observing the chicks’ development through video and audio rigs, the scientists saw that the young parrots used the contact calls of their adoptive parents.
A study of green-rumped parrotlets found that adopted chicks use the names given to them by their foster parents, suggested naming is learned rather than hard-wired. Flickr/barloventomagicoThis suggests that the names used to identify them were learned, rather than hard-wired by DNA from their biological parents, the authors said.
“Our results provide the first experimental evidence for learned vocal production by naive parrots in nature. Nestling contact calls were more similar to the contact calls of their primary care-givers than to adults at other nests, despite half of the nestlings being raised by foster parents,” the authors wrote in their paper, which was published by the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B.
Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,395 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AfricanGreyParrot #amazingAnimals #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalIntelligence #Bird #birds #Birdsong #BlueBackedParrotTanygnathusEveretti #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #conservation #dolphins #Parrot #Parrots #songbird #songbirds #TimnehParrotPsittacusTimneh #vegan #wildlife
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What’s my name? How wild parrots identify their young
Ground-breaking research has found that wild parrots teach their chicks unique sound signatures so that they can identify their parents. We are only just scratching the surface of knowledge about these immensely intelligent non-human beings, protect them! Be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
It’s not just humans and #dolphins who use unique sounds 🔊🪇🎶 to connect with their young. #Birds like #parrots also teach their chicks unique sounds so that they can identify their mothers 🦜🎵🥁🦜 #Boycott4Wildlife to protect them! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/05/19/whats-my-name-how-wild-parrots-identify-their-young/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterHumans and dolphins create unique sounds by which individuals are identified and there was some evidence to suggest captive parrots created ‘contact calls’ – special calls used to identify family and friends. But until now, it was not clear how or if this naming process worked in nature.
To test whether contact calls were innate or learned from parents, researchers from Cornell University and the University of California in the U.S. took eggs from the nests of wild green-rumped parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) and swapped them with eggs from other wild wild green-rumped parrotlet nests. Twelve nests were used in the swapping experiment.
Eight additional nests served as controls, where the eggs were removed but then put back without swapping.
By observing the chicks’ development through video and audio rigs, the scientists saw that the young parrots used the contact calls of their adoptive parents.
A study of green-rumped parrotlets found that adopted chicks use the names given to them by their foster parents, suggested naming is learned rather than hard-wired. Flickr/barloventomagicoThis suggests that the names used to identify them were learned, rather than hard-wired by DNA from their biological parents, the authors said.
“Our results provide the first experimental evidence for learned vocal production by naive parrots in nature. Nestling contact calls were more similar to the contact calls of their primary care-givers than to adults at other nests, despite half of the nestlings being raised by foster parents,” the authors wrote in their paper, which was published by the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B.
Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,395 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AfricanGreyParrot #amazingAnimals #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalIntelligence #Bird #birds #Birdsong #BlueBackedParrotTanygnathusEveretti #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #conservation #dolphins #Parrot #Parrots #songbird #songbirds #TimnehParrotPsittacusTimneh #vegan #wildlife
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What’s my name? How wild parrots identify their young
Ground-breaking research has found that wild parrots teach their chicks unique sound signatures so that they can identify their parents. We are only just scratching the surface of knowledge about these immensely intelligent non-human beings, protect them! Be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
It’s not just humans and #dolphins who use unique sounds 🔊🪇🎶 to connect with their young. #Birds like #parrots also teach their chicks unique sounds so that they can identify their mothers 🦜🎵🥁🦜 #Boycott4Wildlife to protect them! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/05/19/whats-my-name-how-wild-parrots-identify-their-young/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterHumans and dolphins create unique sounds by which individuals are identified and there was some evidence to suggest captive parrots created ‘contact calls’ – special calls used to identify family and friends. But until now, it was not clear how or if this naming process worked in nature.
To test whether contact calls were innate or learned from parents, researchers from Cornell University and the University of California in the U.S. took eggs from the nests of wild green-rumped parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) and swapped them with eggs from other wild wild green-rumped parrotlet nests. Twelve nests were used in the swapping experiment.
Eight additional nests served as controls, where the eggs were removed but then put back without swapping.
By observing the chicks’ development through video and audio rigs, the scientists saw that the young parrots used the contact calls of their adoptive parents.
A study of green-rumped parrotlets found that adopted chicks use the names given to them by their foster parents, suggested naming is learned rather than hard-wired. Flickr/barloventomagicoThis suggests that the names used to identify them were learned, rather than hard-wired by DNA from their biological parents, the authors said.
“Our results provide the first experimental evidence for learned vocal production by naive parrots in nature. Nestling contact calls were more similar to the contact calls of their primary care-givers than to adults at other nests, despite half of the nestlings being raised by foster parents,” the authors wrote in their paper, which was published by the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B.
Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,395 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AfricanGreyParrot #amazingAnimals #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalIntelligence #Bird #birds #Birdsong #BlueBackedParrotTanygnathusEveretti #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #conservation #dolphins #Parrot #Parrots #songbird #songbirds #TimnehParrotPsittacusTimneh #vegan #wildlife
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What’s my name? How wild parrots identify their young
Ground-breaking research has found that wild parrots teach their chicks unique sound signatures so that they can identify their parents. We are only just scratching the surface of knowledge about these immensely intelligent non-human beings, protect them! Be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
It’s not just humans and #dolphins who use unique sounds 🔊🪇🎶 to connect with their young. #Birds like #parrots also teach their chicks unique sounds so that they can identify their mothers 🦜🎵🥁🦜 #Boycott4Wildlife to protect them! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/05/19/whats-my-name-how-wild-parrots-identify-their-young/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterHumans and dolphins create unique sounds by which individuals are identified and there was some evidence to suggest captive parrots created ‘contact calls’ – special calls used to identify family and friends. But until now, it was not clear how or if this naming process worked in nature.
To test whether contact calls were innate or learned from parents, researchers from Cornell University and the University of California in the U.S. took eggs from the nests of wild green-rumped parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) and swapped them with eggs from other wild wild green-rumped parrotlet nests. Twelve nests were used in the swapping experiment.
Eight additional nests served as controls, where the eggs were removed but then put back without swapping.
By observing the chicks’ development through video and audio rigs, the scientists saw that the young parrots used the contact calls of their adoptive parents.
A study of green-rumped parrotlets found that adopted chicks use the names given to them by their foster parents, suggested naming is learned rather than hard-wired. Flickr/barloventomagicoThis suggests that the names used to identify them were learned, rather than hard-wired by DNA from their biological parents, the authors said.
“Our results provide the first experimental evidence for learned vocal production by naive parrots in nature. Nestling contact calls were more similar to the contact calls of their primary care-givers than to adults at other nests, despite half of the nestlings being raised by foster parents,” the authors wrote in their paper, which was published by the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B.
Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,395 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AfricanGreyParrot #amazingAnimals #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalIntelligence #Bird #birds #Birdsong #BlueBackedParrotTanygnathusEveretti #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #conservation #dolphins #Parrot #Parrots #songbird #songbirds #TimnehParrotPsittacusTimneh #vegan #wildlife
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What’s my name? How wild parrots identify their young
Ground-breaking research has found that wild parrots teach their chicks unique sound signatures so that they can identify their parents. We are only just scratching the surface of knowledge about these immensely intelligent non-human beings, protect them! Be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
It’s not just humans and #dolphins who use unique sounds 🔊🪇🎶 to connect with their young. #Birds like #parrots also teach their chicks unique sounds so that they can identify their mothers 🦜🎵🥁🦜 #Boycott4Wildlife to protect them! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/05/19/whats-my-name-how-wild-parrots-identify-their-young/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterHumans and dolphins create unique sounds by which individuals are identified and there was some evidence to suggest captive parrots created ‘contact calls’ – special calls used to identify family and friends. But until now, it was not clear how or if this naming process worked in nature.
To test whether contact calls were innate or learned from parents, researchers from Cornell University and the University of California in the U.S. took eggs from the nests of wild green-rumped parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) and swapped them with eggs from other wild wild green-rumped parrotlet nests. Twelve nests were used in the swapping experiment.
Eight additional nests served as controls, where the eggs were removed but then put back without swapping.
By observing the chicks’ development through video and audio rigs, the scientists saw that the young parrots used the contact calls of their adoptive parents.
A study of green-rumped parrotlets found that adopted chicks use the names given to them by their foster parents, suggested naming is learned rather than hard-wired. Flickr/barloventomagicoThis suggests that the names used to identify them were learned, rather than hard-wired by DNA from their biological parents, the authors said.
“Our results provide the first experimental evidence for learned vocal production by naive parrots in nature. Nestling contact calls were more similar to the contact calls of their primary care-givers than to adults at other nests, despite half of the nestlings being raised by foster parents,” the authors wrote in their paper, which was published by the journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B.
Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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African Greys: How politics killed the parrot
Here at The Nature Nook, we don’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or harsh realities concerning the natural world. But today’s article, about the tragic story of the Congo African grey parrot, is a particularly harrowing read that I don’t recommend to anyone who is sensitive to descriptions of animals in distress.
The Congo African grey is an understated beauty sporting ash-grey plumage, which partially conceals the flash of red in its short tail (it is not to be confused with the smaller, darker Timneh grey parrot). This species is found, as its name would suggest, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along with Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Angola. Already globally threatened, it is more important than ever to understand how the political environment in the DRC is exacerbating the numerous and varied problems facing this gorgeous parrot. One of the most pervasive threats is poaching for the pet trade, which, in the past 40 years alone, has resulted in almost 3 million birds being snatched from their homes.
The DRC (highlighted above in the map of Africa) has been known by many names throughout its history. Originally it was called Congo Free State, then Belgian Congo, then Congo-Léopoldville, then the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then the Republic of Zaire, and finally back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It should not be confused with the Republic of the Congo, which is a neighbouring country to the west.African Grey #Parrots are one of the world’s most intelligent #birds. In one study, an individual named Alex was shown a mirror to see himself. He responded with an existential question ‘What colour?’ to researchers. By talented blogger @thenaturenook
Image Source: TUBSConflict in the Congo
The DRC has a history riddled with colonial rule, oppression, and civil war. Sadly, the turbulence within this divided nation is far from over. It is estimated that since 1998, conflict, famine and disease have claimed the lives of around 5.4 million people. Though it is debatable as to how many of these deaths can be directly attributed to the war itself, this figure has caused many to cite the Second Congolese Civil War as the deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet the loss of life does not start or end with the troops and citizens of the DRC and its surrounding nations. War anywhere in the world is horrific, but in a nation with species as diverse as those in the DRC, the ecological effects can be profound. Many animals great and small, from the lesser-known okapi to the iconic gorilla, have suffered the devastating consequences of human politics.
The DRC has been victim to multifaceted attacks of circumstances. While many ex-colonies struggled to unite after colonial rulers withdrew or were overthrown, the DRC has still had a journey more fraught than most. The tactic of divide and conquer is a militaristic method as old as time, and one that the DRC’s colonial rulers were not ignorant of. Politically dividing nations keeps them unstable and thus easy to control. It follows, therefore, that the first thing that must be done upon the defeat of a colonial oppressor is to mend the rifts carved in society. This, however, is far easier said than done. In the DRC, it presented an unstable climate ripe for international exploitation, which attracted many unsavoury organisations after the precious resource buried in the DRC’s very soil: coltan, a black metallic ore from which the mineral tantalum is extracted.
Tantalum, which is extracted from coltan, is used to make tantalum capacitors – a necessary component of phones, computers, games consoles, x-ray machines and many other technologies used in modern society. The DRC contains approximately 80% of the world’s coltan.
Image Source: Hi-Res Images of Chemical ElementsThe conflict within the DRC is one that is far too complicated to even begin to explain in an article such as this, but I hope that the brief overview I have given will provide context as to why the plight of wildlife within the country’s borders has reached such an egregious level. Of course, war of any kind will always have an associated death toll. Landmines, after all, don’t discriminate between species, and little can survive in the devastation of a battlefield. The violence has pushed animals from their homes, scared birds from their nests, decimated habitats, and forced locals to exploit their own environment. But the extent of the damage goes even deeper.
To see the damage done to the wildlife in this region, let’s look at the mountain gorilla. These huge apes seek refuge and valuable feeding ground in the lush forests of the DRC, but these once-safe green spaces are being carved into. Huge illegal mining operations to excavate the valuable coltan have pockmarked the animals’ homes, with explosives making light work of what precious little habitat remains. Vast areas of forest have already been cleared, going right through mountain gorilla territory, in order to create pathways for transporting coltan from the DRC to neighbouring Rwanda, where it can be laundered into international markets.
The trapping of wild African grey parrots inadvertently kills many of the birds that are caught. The stress of the shipping process will likely further halve the number of birds still alive upon arrival at their destination.
Image Source: Tambako The JaguarThe brutal illegal mines that run on slave labour do nothing to protect the wildlife caught up in their endless pursuit of profit, but even the legal operations cause immeasurable damage to the natural world. There is simply no way to carve such enormous caverns into the soil without disrupting the species that call it home, turning peaceful habitats into busy workplaces. Miners also bring fresh diseases into untouched areas of forest, affecting the gorillas further. And to cap off the brutality of the quarries themselves, thousands of starving miners must be kept fit to work, which means food … lots of it. So what do they eat?
The gorillas.
Bushmeat is the cheapest and most reliable source of food that can be acquired without drawing attention to the illicit activities hidden in the depth of the forest. Because of this, gorillas are often shot and killed to be eaten. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), just over 1,000 mountain gorillas now live in the wild, a staggeringly low population. Yet that is still an increase (due to extensive conservation efforts and ecotourism) from the 650 individuals recorded when comprehensive monitoring of this species began in the 1950s.
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of eastern gorilla that is found only in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Image Source: EmmanuelkwizeraWhile the gorilla is the perfect face for the plight of wildlife in the DRC, I have chosen to focus today on the Congo African grey parrot. This is because, even today, few people are aware of the extent of the perils that this species faces. The African grey is one of the most fascinating animals on this Earth. One famous individual known as Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was the first non-human animal believed to have asked an existential question – he reportedly asked ‘What colour?’ in reference to his own reflection, a command that he was taught to ask of objects that his handler presented him with. Though the extent of Alex’s real understanding is still unknown, the fact remains that his talents at object identification and verbalisation demonstrate the mind-blowing intelligence of these parrots.
This intelligence is perhaps what makes their struggle all the more heartbreaking. The desolation of any animal species is nothing short of a tragedy, but the concept of harming an animal capable of such emotional depth presents an even more alarming sense of injustice. The physical and emotional torment faced by the Congo African grey is mirrored by the also extremely intelligent mountain gorillas, making the entire situation within the DRC one that represents a real depth of human and animal suffering – one that simply must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Parrots in Peril
African grey parrots unfortunate enough to nest in areas of forest obliterated by the coltan trade find themselves displaced and homeless, but this troubling issue is overshadowed by the horrors of the illegal pet trade. This is primarily an issue for the smaller, easier-to-smuggle parrots, but it would be ignorant to assert that the pet trade does not affect gorilla populations as well. Despite a gorilla’s immense size, the corruption within the DRC allows smugglers to get away with trading such large mammals. The pet trade flourishes for the very same reasons coltan mining has been allowed to wreak such immeasurable havoc upon the once-diverse fauna of the DRC – necessity.
Image Source: PixabayWith politicians distracted from conservation efforts and strapped for access to resources, international trafficking organisations are free to take full advantage of a starving population and a nation rich in resources. But it would be unfair to imply that the politicians of the DRC are powerless. Indeed, accusations of corruption in the nation are rife and wide-spreading. Nearly every prominent figure within the relevant governing bodies has been accused of turning a deliberate blind eye to the continuous persecution of the natural world within their jurisdictions. This willful ignorance on the part of those meant to defend the DRC’s wildlife is almost certainly one bought with the use of blood money. Large criminal syndicates responsible for illegal mining or animal trafficking have the funds to pay off corrupt officials or organisations.
Many charities have sought a solution by training rangers to physically protect the habitats of African grey parrots. A growing awareness of groups that are operating in the area, raiding parrot nests and taking large numbers of chicks for the pet trade, has aroused a move to defend these birds. However, simply victimising the perpetrators of animal trapping and trafficking may not be fair. More often than not, those who orchestrate the trapping operations, the individuals who risk their lives to abduct these parrots, are people with no other choice available to them. They are simply people who have been preyed upon by those with more money and power.
Towards the beginning of the Second Congolese Civil War, the growing need for coltan in the international community gave rise to children dropping out of schools to instead hunt for this precious ore, which they could then sell, leaving them able to support their families from very young ages. However, the knock-on effect has been an entire generation of uneducated workers ripe for exploitation from the powerful criminal organisations operating within the region. With no other options to feed themselves and their families, many people are forced to perform the dirty work for those who stand to make the real profit from these poaching operations.
There are huge financial gains to be made from the illegal pet trade. This is because parrots are relatively prolific breeders. Each year, parrots will have clutches of one to three eggs. However, being such social birds, the parrots will stay in large, often multigenerational flocks. This allows poachers to pursue two lucrative avenues. The first is to trap huge numbers of chicks. That process starts with the trapper waiting for the parents to leave the nest, then climbing the tree to abduct the chicks within. The second is to set out glue-based traps. Though this method will largely capture adult birds that will never fully adjust to the life of being a pet, they are still profitable for the pet trade as they are capable of being bred from to produce offspring that can be hand-reared and sold on. The birds will have their feathers chopped to prevent escape and then packed into crates.
Congo African greys are afforded the highest level of protection under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), meaning any international trade of the animals is completely prohibited. However, high-level criminals are able to use a number of methods to smuggle the birds across the border. The level of corruption within the DRC means officials can often be paid to sign off on shipments, turn a blind eye to their contents, issue faulty permits, or even allow unregistered flights to take off from international airports. It seems that the most common method used is that of acquiring a permit meant for a separate species and then simply transporting the birds via a commercial flight, banking on flight attendants being unable to differentiate between types of parrot. The adult birds are most often sent to South Africa, where they can then be laundered into legal bird breeding farms.
This illegitimate business is so successful because the risk versus reward is heavily weighted in their favour. Even at the point where illegal shipments might arouse suspicion, many authorities have a vested interest in turning a blind eye. Parrots, especially African greys, are loud, destructive and messy. Often, any governmental body that seizes a shipment of parrots will then be responsible for it to a degree. With the birds’ origins unknown, release is not as simple as merely opening the box. Introducing new parrots to existing flocks can spread disease and disrupt breeding, making it imperative that the correct release location is chosen. Moreover, re-release permits must be acquired that involve rigorous health checks and monitoring of the birds. This may leave organisations with huge numbers of unruly birds on their hands that they struggle to get rid of. Therefore, it is easier to simply pretend you never saw them in the first place and allow them to move on.
With nearly all risk mitigated, the traffickers are free to take the profit. A single African grey parrot can sell for around $1,000 USD, a price tag that justifies the high mortality rate associated with shipping the birds. An even larger profit stands to be made if the poacher is lucky enough to stumble upon a rare colour mutation whereby the glorious red of the tail feathers has spread to the rest of the bird. Some chicks are hatched, even in the wild, with more red feathers than expected, and, if bred, these individuals can sometimes produce entirely red offspring – rare specimens that fetch obscene prices.
Prized for their intelligence and ability to mimic human speech, African grey parrots are popular avian pets.
Image Source: AcabashiProtecting Parrots
The gruesome reality in the DRC combines a humanitarian crisis and a heartbreaking threat to some of the most spectacular species on this Earth. But it is not completely without hope. Environmental agencies have already made progress in providing greater career opportunities in the DRC, to the mutual benefit of wildlife and local communities. Poachers know the areas and tactics of animal trappers better than anyone else, and when provided with the opportunity for legitimate work, many are all too happy to get involved. This means there is a wealth of strong, experienced and hardworking individuals willing and able to be recruited as rangers to protect the wildlife they once attacked.
This has been immensely successful in the case of the mountain gorillas. Rangers work closely with these apes, monitoring them day and night to protect them from poachers. With such an intimate knowledge of the gorillas, both individually and as a species, some rangers have been able to lead hugely successful wildlife spotting trips. Tourists from all over the world pay large sums to see wild gorillas on tours guided by these rangers. The money from this tourism is able to directly fund the rangers’ work and other conservation efforts in the area. Local communities that once hunted the gorilla for bushmeat now recognise them as the greatest source of income to their area and take great pride in learning about them.
Though it is not yet happening on the same scale, a similar tactic is being applied to parrots all over the world. There have been major successes with macaws in Bolivia, aided by the World Parrot Trust, and we can only hope that in the future a similar recovery will be seen in the numbers of African grey parrots in the wild.
The Timneh grey parrot was formerly classified as a subspecies of the African grey parrot, but it is now recognised as a full species. Whereas African grey parrots have crimson tails, the Timneh grey parrot has a tail that is a dull, dark maroon colour.
Image Source: Peter FuchsThe role that the international community has played can also be tackled. Raising awareness of where our beloved parrots may have come from can promote better shopping habits and a more responsible consumer market. If the demand for African greys is diminished enough, the monetary gain will no longer justify the risk of poaching, and criminal organisations will be forced to turn their attention away from our precious wildlife. In addition, the commercial airlines flying cargo from the DRC are being increasingly pressured to provide the relevant training to their staff to recognise illegal shipments and stop them before they can cross the border, whereupon they become much harder to track down. And on top of this, charitable organisations are building facilities to take on seized African grey parrots, reducing the burden on legal authorities.
All in all, we are a long way from a perfect situation, but glimmers of hope reinforce the importance of raising awareness for the African grey, and how politics pushed it to the brink.
If you’d like to do more than just raising awareness, donating to the World Parrot Trust or the WWF will go a long way to supporting these phenomenal creatures. If you have more money and time to dedicate to this cause, eco-tourism in the area is doing massive amounts of good for the mountain gorilla. Gorilla trekking through the lush forests of the Congo basin makes for a unique and exciting holiday, while your money and time support the efforts of the rangers. While you’re in the area, ensure you go and buy arts and crafts made by local people, as well as supporting local eateries and travel services. The more your tourism supports the economy, the better local people and communities will be able to protect the natural world around them.
By Nature Nook
Read more#AfricanGreyParrot #birds #CITES #Congo #DemocracticRepublicOfCongo #MountainGorilla #nature #NatureNook #Parrots #TheDemocraticRepublicOfCongo
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African grey parrots help each other in times of need
It’s not only some mammals who help each other in times of need. The cleverest birds: crows, magpies and ravens do as well. They are critically endangered in #Africa due to the #pettrade and #deforestation. Help them by joining the #Boycott4Wildlife
Corvids – birds such as ravens, crows, and magpies – and parrots are considered to be special among birds, as they have unusually large and densely packed brains. They show many cognitive capacities that are linked to an advanced understanding of their surroundings. This has earned them the name “feathered apes”. A recent study has found that it’s not only crows and ravens who help one another – grey parrots do as well.
There are a few observations of helping behaviours in non-human animals. For example, vampire bats provide food to other group members and save them from starvation. In more experimental settings, in which scientists can better control the environment, chimpanzees helped each other get a tool that is out of reach, while bonobos even provided help to strangers.
But some animals, like monkeys, don’t. This raises the question of how helping behaviours evolved. And are they limited to great apes and humans only, or is this capacity also present in other (non-mammalian) species?
Corvids – birds such as ravens, crows, and magpies – and parrots are considered to be special among birds, as they have unusually large and densely packed brains. They show many cognitive capacities that are linked to an advanced understanding of their surroundings. This has earned them the name “feathered apes”. But in recent studies, researchers found that crows and ravens did not help another.
Parrots had not yet been tested, so we decided to find out about their helping behaviours. We tested two parrot species – African grey parrots and blue-headed macaws – and found that the African grey parrots recognised when the other was in need, and would help as a result.
African grey parrots. Eric Isselee/ShutterstockThe experiment
Both parrot species in our study are threatened by extinction in the wild. As a result, we conducted the study with captive parrots belonging to the Loro Parque Foundation, a Spanish conservation non-governmental organisation, in Tenerife. These parrots were well habituated to humans and more than willing to work for some nut rewards.
We trained the birds individually to pick up and place a metal ring, or token, into the open hand of an experimenter. In return for this action, we handed them a piece of walnut as a reward. Once the birds could reliably do this, we placed a pair of parrots into a test room that was separated into two smaller compartments.
We gave tokens to one bird. But its hole facing the experimenter was blocked. This meant that it could not exchange the tokens for food. Its neighbour, however, was able to perform this action. But it was missing the tokens.
In the first trial, Bird A received 10 tokens and could pass them to Bird B. Only Bird B could exchange these tokens for food, while Bird A did not receive any food for performing this action. In the second trial, the roles were reversed and now Bird B could transfer tokens to Bird A, while only Bird A could exchange them for food.
The parrot with the tokens did not receive any immediate rewards for helping out their partner during the trial. This made it a selfless act. But following each trial, the roles were reversed and birds could pay back the received favours.
We found that the African greys reciprocated help, and gave more tokens to their partner if they also received a lot of help before.
We also did two control tests. This was because we weren’t able to draw any conclusions about the parrots’ underlying motivation to help each other from the experiment. They could, for example, be playing or trying to bring the tokens closer to the human hand.
In one control, the parrots couldn’t exchange tokens for food. If the birds still transferred tokens to their partner, we could attribute this to their intrinsic motivation to play with objects.
In another control, we wanted to find out if the birds were transferring tokens based on a selfish motivation. We tested the birds without a partner present, consequently, no one on the other side could exchange the token for food. Under these conditions, it wouldn’t make sense for the parrot to transfer the tokens into an empty compartment unless they were trying to help themselves by bringing the tokens as close as possible to the experimenter’s hand.
The African greys were able to discriminate between conditions in which help was needed or useless. They transferred fewer tokens if no one was present on the other side, or if the partner could not exchange the tokens for food. However, if the partner could use the tokens and exchange those for food, they readily gave their partner tokens.
This demonstrated that they understood the task and their partner’s action-based goal: exchange tokens for food.
The blue-headed macaws, on the contrary, generally gave very few tokens to their partners. In fact, they acted rather selfishly, trying to bring the tokens as close as possible to the experimenter’s hand – whether or not another bird was on the other side.
Cognitive capacity
This result is very interesting, as it shows that the cognitive capacity to help another individual in need is present also in a non-mammalian species.
Birds and mammals shared their last common ancestor around 300 million years ago. Considering that monkeys and corvids don’t help each other, our findings suggest that the cognitive capacity for helping behaviours evolved multiple times during evolution, independently from one another.
Essentially, facing similar ecological and social pressures can lead to the evolution of the same cognitive capacities for coping with them.
In the case of the African grey parrots, considering they live in large flocks of up to 1,200 individuals, they need to keep track of multiple social interactions at a time: who did I interact with yesterday, was it positive or negative?
They would need to remember these interactions, as they might not see particular individuals every day.
Blue-headed macaws, on the contrary, were observed in smaller flocks of only around 10 individual in the wild. Living in smaller flocks means there’s less social information to store as the group composition potentially stays rather constant.
It would therefore make sense for parrots, which live in complex societies – with group compositions that change often – to have enhanced cognitive abilities.
Désirée Brucks, Postdoctoral Researcher, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and Auguste von Bayern, Researcher, Max Planck Institute
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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