Matamoros, Tamaulipas — Three parrots illegally taken out of Mexico have been seized by U.S. authorities. During the seizure, an American citizen in possession of the birds was arrested.
The three parrots have since been returned to Mexico. The return was the result of collaboration between Mexico and the United States, the Federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection reported.
As a result of the coordinated work between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), three yellow-headed parrots (Amazona oratrix) that had been illegally taken out of the country were recovered.
The United States Customs and Border Protection Agency detained a U.S. citizen at the Matamoros-Brownsville International Bridge. The woman was trying to reenter the U.S. with the three birds, violating health and endangered wildlife protection regulations.
The yellow-headed parrot is one of Mexico’s most emblematic psittacine species, but also one of the most vulnerable due to high demand in the illegal market and habitat loss.
Given its critical situation, the species enjoys the highest level of legal protection both in Mexico and internationally. While it is listed as “endangered” in the NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, it is also included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibits international trade primarily for commercial purposes.
The specimens were returned to Mexico through the Reynosa-Pharr International Bridge in good health. They are being evaluated for their possible integration into a conservation and species recovery project.
