How does illegal trade of parrots occur?
The illicit trade in parrots involves both smuggling and falsification of shipping documents. Often smuggled out of countries like Australia, Brazil, or Mexico where their export is restricted, parrots are brought into nearby trade centers where export is allowed or where falsified permits can sometimes be obtained. Parrots are also smuggled into countries with strict import and quarantine laws. In the late 1980s, an estimated 50,000 birds, mostly parrots, were smuggled into the United States each year, mostly across the vast U.S.-Mexico border. It appears that smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border is still a significant problem; some U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Inspectors estimate that as many as 20,000 birds are smuggled from Mexico every year.
