Parrot crisis in Bonaire! part 2

I've been following this situation closely through bonairetalk's forum and of course, the website www.echobonaire.org

I found out that not only were yellowed-fronted amazons taken in this smuggling ring but also the caribbean brown throated parakeets.

These raucous social conures that I would see flying around in groups early morning in Belnam were taken as well!

I still have a hard time getting this around my head that this sort of primitive wildlife smuggling still occurs. The defense is usually the same classic bullshit of "I need to feed my family".

Pulleaze....

This is not really the case.

It is more of a matter of bringing in extra income to buy stupid shit like designer jeans and cell phones.

In the books, "Of Parrots and People' by Mira Tweti (published in 2008) and "Parrot Culture' by Bruce Thomas Boehrer (published in 2004) talks about the horrific pet trade in regards to capture, smuggling and mistreatment of wild caught birds. I can not bring myself to recollect some of the nightmarish stories that have read about, and sadly, this shit is still occuring.

In the book, "the last flight of the Scarlet macaw: one woman's fight to save the world's most beautiful bird" by Bruce Barcott (published in 2008) It is about Belize's "zoo lady's" Sharon Matola's fight to save the endangered scarlet macaws nesting site with maddening frustration. She tried fighting the Chalillo Dam construction which was built regardless of environmental impact statements that state it would pollute the rivers and should not be built on catastrophically unsound clay hills (rather than solid granite.)

The Belize minister of finance pushed it through, altering documents knowing no matter what happens even if the dam fails with horrific disastrous results he would still get kick-back money in his pockets from the project regardless AND he could claim to be faultless of what happens through carefully worded "legal "documents.

During the time the "zoo lady" was fighting the dam construction, macaws were then "discovered" and consequentally exploited. They were being hunted for the pet trade by unscrupulous sorts and also hunted as "jungle chicken". Prior to the construction of the dam, there was estimated amount of just 300 of these majestic birds in Belize. Belize is teetering on the brink of disaster by the impending collapse of this stupid dam.

For further info in regards to this situation : http://www.belizezoo.org/

I will admit sometimes I feel powerless and overwhelmed with all this information.

I am taking one step at a time to do what I can do to help.

I will keep you updated for now on the situation in Bonaire for now.

* photo above is a Caribbean brown throated parakeet