National Wildlife Day is taking place on September 4^th.

The aim of the day is to raise awareness of the plight on endangered animals around the world. The day was founded and initially celebrated in America, but has expanded to a global reach now and is being celebrated in a myriad of countries all over the world.

Although there are lots of conservation projects happening across the world to boost the numbers of our endangered Parrots, there is always more that can be done.

Message of the Day

In America the day highlights zoos and animal sanctuaries that are working to preserve our animals and are spreading the message about conservation to the next generation.

They also want people to visit their local zoo more often in order to support the conservation projects they are working with too.

The World Parrot Trust collaborate with lots of different zoos across the UK, including Zoological Society London, Paradise Park and the RSPB. Paradise Park bred six Macaws, who later travelled to Bolivia, the first to join the World Parrot Trust's captive breeding and release programme.

Colleen Paige created National Wildlife Day in 2006 to honour the memory of Australian wildlife presenter Steve Irwin. He had a huge love of animals and taught lots of people lots of information about the animals he adored.

Parrot Conservation

There are hundreds of Parrot species living all over the world. In some areas Parrot numbers are increasing, in others not so much.

There are over 50 Parrot species that are endangered in the wild. The WWF and The World Parrot Trust run numerous projects to spread the message about threatened Parrots.

The World Parrot Trust has supported 37 different Parrot species across 20 countries since they started in 1989.

Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc is a proud supporter of numerous conservation projects. Before starting work as an animal trainer she presented free flight bird shows that featured Parrot conservation messages. Not only has she visited New Zealand to work with threatened Kakapo chicks, she dyed her hair blue to support The Bird Endowment Charity.

The Bird Endowment Charity build nest boxes in Bolivia to encourage the Blue-Throated Macaws that live in the area to breed.

What you can do to help

There are several ways you can conserve Parrot conservation.

As we discussed previously, adopt a homeless Parrot rather than buying one from a breeder and definitely don’t buy a Parrot direct from the wild.

If you can, donate money to Parrot conservation projects like The World Parrot Trust, The Parrot Society and WWF.

Don’t breed your Parrot unless you are sure you have homes for the chicks or can care for them yourself.

Let us know how you’re celebrating Wildlife Day in the comments