From 1998 to 2000, the world trade in parrots totaled over one million birds. The United States have stricter laws in place now and parrot imports have declined considerably while captive breeding has increased. Almost all parrot species along with other types of wildlife are protected by an International treaty (Convention On International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife ad Flora) which has been signed by 160 countries, among those, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Today, roughly 17,000 parrots are imported into the United States each year and approximately 3,500 of them are taken from the wild. It is estimated that at least 20,000 birds are smuggled from Mexico each year. The effect of the illegal trade of parrots into the United States has devastating effects on the wild populations of Mexican parrots. Large Macaws and Lilac Crowned Parrots do not produce a large number of offspring and can not rebuild their wild populations quickly, therefore, excessive trade has been detrimental to the long term survival of the some of these species (WWF).

When people think of parrots, they have the romantic idea of a beautiful trained parrot living in a large cage as their pet, well fed and with all the necessary veterinary care. Yes, they are charming intelligent creatures who can make excellent pets, but to what cost? Pet parrot owners in Mazatlán should realize that mortality rates prior to arrival with the final pet owner, ranges from 5 to 60 percent.

Why such a high mortality rate?

This is due to the way birds are trapped in the wild: Poachers use long mist nets that tie between two trees and leave it in place for one or two days. During that time, many other birds get trapped and die due to dehydration. In some cases reported this year near the Village of La Noria, a poacher left a net for days and would only come back to retrieve 10 parrots that he could commercialize without much risk, and would leave 50 or more birds doomed to a slow and painful death. More deaths occur when the trafficker rushes to detach the bird from the net in an effort to avoid detection by authorities, and often leaving the parrots head hanging from the net, only to toss the body to one side.

If the trafficker succeeds in trapping a good number of birds (50 or 60 is common), he places them in a small cage which he will carry through farm land, away from main roads where he will walk for hours until he reaches Highway 15. From there, he will usually take a second class bus on route to a Northwest border town where a contact person will be awaiting the precious cargo.

Military Macaws, Lilac Crowned and White Fronted parrots are found in the mountains near Concordia, Mesillas and the south of Sinaloa. Mazatlán's location plays a strategic role in wildlife trafficking because it is a popular tourist destination for foreign visitors and it is the path that all traffickers coming from Nayarit are forced to use.

What happens when a trafficker is caught transporting wildlife?

There are Food and Agricultural produce checkpoints in a place south of Mazatlán called La Concha, (along with various others along Highway 15), which is the final checkpoint before reaching Mazatlán. The same checkpoints have also anti-drug inspection agents (P.G.R.)

The most recent case happened on January 19th, where an anonymous caller informed that a red pick up truck with Nayarit License plates was carrying 510 Passerines (buntings) 4 toucans and a crocodile. Authorities decided that it would worth setting up an operation and radioed Federal and State law enforcement agencies to join the search.

PROFEPA, the environmental protection agency has a champion inspector with excellent detectives skills who was assigned to the case and he was the one to spot a vehicle that matched the description. And there they were the 510 birds kept in two small cages holding approximately 250 birds each, along with another smaller cage holding the 4 toucans, and a juvenile 50 cm. long crocodile in a sack. The place for the arrest of the criminals was El Salado, La Cruz de Elota, Sinaloa.

By that time, the media representatives, sensing that something big was about to happen were already on the alert and when the federal agents arrived in Culiacan, they were camera ready. The local and national Television networks cameras covered the news and the case was broadcast nationwide in the evening news.

It was indeed sheer luck that a citizen made the phone call to report the incident, and as the director for environmental inspection called it, it was "Un golpe de Suerte" for the Environmental Agency to launch a blind pursue. The coordination between agencies was excellent. This will certainly reinforce the faith of citizens who decide to file a complaint and see that thanks to their phone call, arrests are being made.

The birds were placed under the care of Conrehabit (wildlife rehabilitation agency) in Mazatlan, whose members rushed to prepare the cages at midnight, immediately receiving an urgent e-mail message from PROFEPA Culiacan. "We need help with 510 birds, afraid they will die". Past experiences have told Conrehabit that cages must always be ready but never did the members imagine that they would have to make room for 510 colorful buntings (Passerina ciris & Sporophila torqueloa).

The 4 toucans were numbed after being on the road for at least 5 days but otherwise, in pretty good condition. It was decided that their survival was a priority so phone calls were exchanged with the director of the Mazatlán Aquarium and a plan was set for them: A large parrot exhibit cage would be their home and the young crocodile would be placed in a separate pond.

The foreign community in Mazatlan has been very supportive of social causes and it has always responded to the SOS calls from the wildlife association.

For those new to Mazatlán, it is important to remember that birds such as Passerines are a migrating species that come from the U.S. and Canada to their winter grounds in Mexico.

In helping preserve Mexican wildlife, we are also preserving the wildife in your country. Support the conservation efforts of the small local wildlife association whose members are Mexican, Canadian and U.S. residents. Visit: www.faunamexico.com to find out about their work.

About the Author

A native of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico who moved to Mazatlan and her husband is a marine biologist.

In Mazatlan, she founded a conservation association named CONREHABIT, A.C., http://www.conrehabit.com, which works in habitat conservation projects, environmental education and wildlife rescue with the help of foreign and national volunteers.

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