The maintenance of parrots in captivity, caused by the illegal traffic and illegal ownership of these animals, makes them lose essential abilities for free-living survival, such as flight capacity and human avoidance, which hinders the success of reintroduction programs. Here, we assessed the...

Birds are affected by many parasites, and at wildlife animals are less vulnerable to the changes caused by parasitism, nevertheless in captivity their vulnerability may increase by different factors, including precarious hygiene and management. Birds of the order Psittaciformes frequently live...

Stable isotope analyses are a powerful tool in understanding diets, defining trophic networks, inferring geographical origins of animals and in forensic tracing of the origins of deceased humans or illegally traded animal and plant material. African grey parrots Psittacus erithacus are one of the...

Parrots are kept in zoos, homes and laboratories for conservation, companionship and research purposes. The intelligence, longevity and behaviour of parrots raise concerns for keeping them in these environments. Captive settings may limit the expression of normal behaviours and, as a consequence,...

Background: Illegal trade in rare wildlife species is a major threat to many parrot species around the world. Wildlife forensics plays an important role in the preservation of endangered or threatened wildlife species. Identification of illegally harvested or traded animals through DNA techniques...

Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) are recognised as global extinction drivers of threatened species. Unfortunately, biodiversity managers have few tested solutions to manage them when often the desperate need for solutions necessitates a response. Here we test in situ biosecurity protocols to...

We conducted health evaluations of 69 wild and 22 captive Morafka's desert tortoises (Gopherus morafkai) in Mexico between 2005 and 2008. The wild tortoises were from 11 sites in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa, and the captive tortoises were from the state-managed Centro Ecológico de Sonora Zoo...

Spur-thighed tortoises (Testudo graeca) are protected in Romania, where they are at the limit of their distribution range. Because tortoises are negatively affected by transportation networks, we supposed that this impact would also be obvious in an area from Romania where they are present. For...

We report the recent emergence of a novel beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) genotype in the last remaining wild population of the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster). This virus poses a significant threat to the recovery of the species and potentially its...

Agassiz's desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a threatened species of the southwestern United States, has severely declined to the point where 76% of populations in critical habitat (Tortoise Conservation Areas) are below viability. The potential for rapid recovery of wild populations is low...