Hope for the future of African grey parrots

The African grey parrot

African grey parrots are being loved to death. Their intelligence and longevity make them popular as pets, and overharvest for the pet trade is devastating populations in the wild.

Fortunately, nations gathered at the world’s largest and most important wildlife trade conference handed these birds a lifeline by granting them increased protections under a global treaty called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES member nations, referred to as “Parties,” voted to increase protections for grey parrots in a proposal co-sponsored by the United States.