The illegal trade of blue front parrots (Amazonas aestiva) in Northeast Brazil
Rehabilitation. Wildlife traffic. Turquoise-fronted amazon. Papagaio-verdadeiro. Loro Hablador. Pet-trade.
Psittacidae birds have vibrantly coloured plumage and can imitate the human voice, arousing great interest as a target in the illegal pet trade worldwide. To understand the extent of the illegal pet trade pressure on blue-fronted parrots in northeast Brazil, we analysed data from government agencies to show the rate of rescuing and releasing the species in Northeast Brazil. We investigated: i) whether the number of rescued blue-fronted parrots and other parrot species differed over the years; ii) whether the proportion of blue-fronted parrots varied according to the rescuing category (i.e. seized, recovered, and voluntary delivered); iii) whether the number of rescued blue-fronted parrots was different between reproductive and non-reproductive months; iv) we presented the death rate of blue-front parrots after being rescued and compared whether the death rate differed between dry and wet months where the rescue centre is located; and last but not least, v) we provided a cost breakdown of the rehabilitation process.