BELÉM, Brazil — The golden parakeet is as noisy as it is brightly colored. Hanging from the branches above, three of these medium-sized parrots screech and squawk as they peer down to get a better look at biologist Marcelo Vilarta as he observes them. Also known as golden conures, they’re striking birds with their vibrant yellow plumage and green wingtips distinct against the Amazonian vegetation. Yet it’s these colors that have put their population at risk of extinction. The illegal pet trade, coupled with acute habitat loss, have reduced the population of golden parakeets (Guaruba guarouba) to fewer than 10,000 wild individuals — a tiny number for a large biome like the Brazilian Amazon, the only place on Earth where they’re natively found. They occur mostly in the state of Pará, with records also in the states of Maranhão and Amazonas. “There aren’t any other golden parakeets [naturally in the wild] in any other place in the world,” Vilarta tells Mongabay. He’s part of a golden parakeet reintroduction project supported by the Institute for Forest Development and Biodiversity (IDEFLOR-Bio), a Pará state agency, and the nonprofit Lymington Foundation. The program began in 2017, with the first flock of golden parakeets released into the wild in January 2018 in Utinga State Park in Belém, the capital of Pará and the host city of the COP30 climate summit in 2025. In Belém, the birds had been locally extinct for more than 100 years. The inquisitive golden parakeets watching Vilarta from the tree…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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