Singapore Parrot Trade
This project created a portfolio of conservation images about pet parrot owners at hobbyist group gatherings in Singapore, to engage the public at a time of rising demand for parrots and an increase of imports of wild caught birds.
Location: Singapore
Species: African grey, Hyacinth macaw, Moluccan cockatoo, Amazon, Scarlet macaw, Ring-necked parakeet, and many more.
More info on the parrot trade in Singapore
Singapore is the 6th largest importer in the world of live parrots legally traded. Rising demand for parrots in Singapore is a relatively recent phenomenon.
The Straits Times reported in the their 2014 article, “Parrot Passion” that some pet shop owners in Singapore have estimated a 10% rise in parrot owners every year from 2011 to 2013. Numerous hobbyist groups in Singapore meet regularly at gatherings in public spaces.
A concerning trend visible in legal trade data is that parrot imports to Singapore consist of an increasing number and percentage of wild caught birds. In 2000 there 900 wild imports, in 2018 there were 2000.
Living birds are a hugely profitable commodity and, unlike other commonly poached animals today, parrots are among the few that are poached live for the pet trade.
Poaching and smuggling result in high mortality rates. Nicaraguan researchers estimate that, in order to compensate for mortalities, up to four times as many parrots are captured than make it to market.
Several species of parrot are extinct in the wild already due to trade and related factors. 30% of parrot species are facing the same fate as the Spix’s Macaw, declared extinct in the wild in 2019.
Conservation Photography
Editorial Stock
Image Licensing: Alamy
Theme: Live Bird Trade
Publication Credits: BirdLife International, Oryx
