Can we restock wild populations with captively-bred parrots?
Parrots are not like fish. They are more like people in the sense that they require years of education in order to learn what to eat, where to roost, what dangers to avoid in the wild. This knowledge is passed from generation to generation, and when we break this link, that special knowledge that wild parrots possess is lost. Where parrot reintroductions have been attempted, such projects have generally met with dismal failure. Also, unless we save the habitat from which they are being eliminated, including the large, old trees in whose cavities they nest, there will be no place for them in the wild. Can we really turn this whole thing around? Can attitudes really change? You bet. It has happened before, when fashion and taste were endangering whole groups of species, and people’s attitudes changed. Early in this century, ladies’ hats were adorned with plumes from birds of paradise. When the public was informed about the rapid decline of these birds due to poaching to satisfy this dema
