The African Grey Parrot has become the latest species to be protected Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES). The heavily trafficked bird which is slowly going extinct drew attention owing to its rapid decline in its natural habitat.

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Services, the African Grey Parrot, whose intelligence and trait of long live made a preferred species of bird pets, remains one of the most trafficked birds with about 1.5 million of the species taken from the wild in the last quarter a century. The bird use to be a popular sight across Central and West Africa but its commercialization has quickly declined its population.

CITIES at the Wildlife Trade Conference in South Africa voted to protect the bird, banning all commercial trade of the bird across the world. Out of the 180 member nations of CITIES, 95 voted for its protection, 35 opposed the proposal while a few others abstained from voting.

According to a CCTV-Africa report, Angola, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo were the African countries that championed the proposal alongside the European Union and the USA. The bird can rarely be seen in West Africa but the Central region of the continent still boast a good number of the species no thanks to deforestation. This is great news for the African environment and it will be great to get more species into the protected list. The ban, however, will still be finalized according to relevant conservation laws to be more efficient.

Source: CCTV-Africa

Photo by: Muslime Muramura