Scientists believe that the species may now be extinct in the wild. Only weapons and drugs earn more. More than half a million parrots are traded annually, mostly in Europe. Some 15 to 20 million birds of various sorts are captured yearly in the Amazon Basin for the pet trade. Reptiles, including protected species, are heavily traded as well.
Tropical fish are among the most popular pets.
Many of them are captured on coral reefs where boats, divers, anchors, and chemicals used to stun fish before capture often damage the reef as well. Tens of thousands of fish and animals die en route to their destination. Birds, for example, are often shipped in crowded cages where they attack and kill one another, die of suffocation, or succumb to disease and lack of food and water. The ill effects of the pet trade can extend beyond individual species as well. Trappers sometimes cut down nesting trees to capture baby parrots.