Conservation

The Golden Parakeet is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of threatened species (2007) and it is included in the Appendix I of CITES (CITES 2004). In Brazil and in the state of Pará, the species is classified as vulnerable (IBAMA 2003, SEMA 2007). The main justification for its status is that the population is believed to be small and decreasing, and due to the extensive habitat loss and active trapping for trade in Pará and Maranhão.

The species is present in 10 of the recently defined Important Bird Areas in Brazil (de Luca et al. 2010). Several protected areas in Amazon also shelter populations of Golden Parakeet, including Amazonia and Jamanxim National Parks, Tapajós, Itaituba, Trairão and Caixuanã National Forests, and Gurupi Biological Reserve (Laranjeiras and Cohn-Haft 2009).

Effects of human activities on Golden Parakeets populations have not been studied in details. The main threats to wild Golden Parakeets have been identified through indirect data and perceptions of researchers in the field.

The continuous deforestation in Amazon is considered the main threat to wild population. The species range coincides with the deforestation-arc in the Amazon and has diminished about 30% over the last decades (Laranjeiras and Cohn-Haft 2009). Although the species can tolerate some disturbance in the forest, parakeets are absent in areas with advanced deforestation, and flocks disappear seasonally from fragmented landscapes, probably searching for food, indicating they require the presence of intact forest.

The capture for illegal pet trade is also a relevant threat. In eastern Pará, the species is continuously trapped and birds are kept as pets locally or sold to illegal traders for resale in major cities (Kyle 2005, Silveira and Belmonte 2005). Golden Parakeets are still frequent in apprehensions by governmental agencies in the whole country, but, fortunately, there is no evidence of international trade (Silveira and Belmonte 2005). In western Pará, where there are more protected areas and intact forest, incidents and evidence of trapping are increasing (Laranjeiras 2008b). Locally, the species also has suffered from hunting and persecution by indigenous people or farmers (Laranjeiras 2008a, BirdLife Interanational 2011).