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Spring
2003 Volume 52 Number 2 |
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About the Cover
Photographer Frans Lanting's camera lens captured this Scarlet macaw (Ara
macao) nesting in a tree cavity in Tambopata, Peru. One of the most vibrantly
colorful birds, this parrot species is rapidly losing its habitat while
individual animals are poached for the global pet trade, where a single bird can
fetch prices reaching $2,000. Nest poaching for macaw and numerous other parrots
poses a grave threat to their long-term viability in the wild. A burgeoning
ecotourism industry, where wild birds are left alone to be viewed by enamored
tourists in their natural surroundings, could save them. Simultaneously,
however, stricter controls must be put in place to stop the global trade in
exotic birds. After the United States drastically restricted-in some cases
prohibited-importation of the most threatened wild birds, the European Union
became the world's most significant importer of these animals for the pet trade.
Now, an effort is underway to push the E.U. to follow America's lead and ban the
import of wild-caught birds. |
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