Can catching and selling parrots and macaws be called conservation? The wildlife division of Venezuela’s Environment Ministry thinks so. Starting in April, the agency known as Profauna plans to allow the capture and sale of four species of the birds on an experimental basis in the Orinoco Delta and contiguous wetlands in Monagas state. It’s the latest attempt in Latin America at market-driven wildlife preservation. (See “Mexico’s wildlife strategy draws hunters... and heat”—EcoAméricas, Nov. ‘98.) Profauna, formally the General Sectoral Directorate of Fauna, believes the parrots and macaws can comfortably stand culling. So on their way to pet shops will be 2,000 orange-winged parrots (Amazona amazonica), 50 yellow-headed parrots (Amazona ochrocephala), 200 red-bellied macaws (Ara manilata), and 50 blue-and... [Log in to read more]
