Friday, July 22, 2011

RBG Donates to Support Bonaire Parrots


Earlier this month, 112 endangered parrots and endemic parakeets were illegally taken by poachers on Bonaire, bound for the pet trade on neighbouring Curacao. Thanks to the efforts of the Bonaire National Parks Foundation (STINAPA) and the island's police force, these birds were confiscated and entrusted to Echo, a non-profit organization that protects the parrots of Bonaire.
 
The birds were unfed while in possession of the poachers and were therefore starving and near death. The crew at Echo began working around the clock to mix food and hand feed all of these chicks. 

There are currently 82 unweaned chicks which the Echo team are now hand feeding. This is a tremendous strain on their limited resources. The organization has received emergency aid from World Parrot Trust which covers the immediate needs of these parrots. The groups has already successfully released other confiscated illegal pet Amazon parrots, and hope to return all 112 of these parrots to the wild too. 

Rainforest Biodiversity Group recently made a donation to help out with this effort. The organization has done an amazing job fundraising and have now reached their goals for raising enough money to take care of the immediate needs of the birds. They are continuing to accept donations, however, in order to protect these birds long-term by conducting anti-poaching campaigns, public education, nest site management, breeding research and habitat restoration efforts.   

Follow this link to make your own donation to the effort.