Wild parrots continue to be captured for the pet trade despite widespread bans. The welfare costs from capture mortality and long-term captivity are significant.
Wild parrot trade causes enormous welfare harm at both capture and lifetime captivity stages. Capture mortality is extreme with most birds dying before reaching retail sale. Survivors face captivity welfare deficits because wild-caught parrots maintain wild behavioral repertoires and fear responses that make captive life chronically stressful. Consumer rejection of wild-caught parrots and support for captive-bred birds removes the economic driver of this welfare harm.