Trade Off

Official support for Grey Parrots.

- Rowan Martin

In October 2016, three thousand delegates gathered in Johannesburg for the CITES Conference of Parties to decide how wildlife should be traded around the world. Among the heated debates on rhino horn, elephant ivory and lion hunting, the fate of another iconic African species hung in the balance: that of the Grey Parrot Psittacus erithacus.

GREY PARROTS are one of the best-known pet bird species, their playful antics and cheerful whistles familiar in homes the world over. Their popularity has been fuelled by a reputation of being one of the best talkers and most intelligent of animals. After all, it was a West African Grey Parrot, going by the name of Polynesia, that taught Dr Dolittle how to talk to all the other animals.

Although Grey Parrots have been trained in some impressive cognitive tasks, adding numbers up to eight and recognising shapes and colours, they are not exceptional among parrots. However, popular folklore has propelled them to the top of the pecking order in the minds of many. Recently a Grey Parrot, aptly named Einstein, came close to winning the reality tele vision show America’s Got Talent. His YouTube videos have received more than 13 million hits. While these parrots are clearly impressive birds, there is another reason for their ubiquity in cages around the world: they can be trapped in the wild in large numbers with great efficiency, which makes them readily available and relatively affordable.