Alex the parrot genius was perhaps the smartest parrot known to mankind. Yet his wild kin may be in trouble because of the pet trade and deforestation.

An in-depth study of African grey parrot populations in Ghana, part of the parrot’s wild range, reveals that the species has been “virtually eliminated” there.

Their numbers have plummeted by 90 to 99 per cent since the last sizeable survey in 1992.


Although there are thought to be sizeable populations of between 560,000 and 12.7 million in other African countries further east, including Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it seems likely that Psittacus erithacus could be in trouble throughout its native range.

The new study, led by Nathaniel Annorbah of Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, suggests that if Ghana is anything to go by, the future for grey parrots in the wild is grim.

His team found grey parrots in only 10 of 42 cells – each of 100 square kilometres – in the country’s forests. In three roost areas that each harboured between 700 and 1200 birds two decades ago, Annorbah only found 18 parrots in total.

“It’s pretty shocking,” says Nigel Collar of BirdLife International, a co-author on the paper. “It’s very difficult to know what can be done.”

Pet peeve

Of 900 Ghanaians Annorbah asked about the fate of grey parrots, 42 per cent primarily blamed the felling for timber of the large trees in which the parrots nest, and 37 per cent said the pet trade was the main reason.

Declines are thought to be as severe elsewhere in West Africa, but Collar says that populations appear to be holding up better towards Central Africa.

Even there the numbers being taken for the pet trade may be unsustainable, though. John Hart of the Lukuru Foundation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported recently that some 12,000-18,000 birds are being taken out of the wild every year from the eastern part of the country, vastly exceeding the country’s annual quota of 5000.

Journal reference: Ibis, DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12332

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Image credit: Jabruson/Naturepl.com