- The golden parakeet (Guaruba guarouba), highly sought after in the illegal pet trade for its striking yellow plumage, is at risk of extinction in the Brazilian Amazon.
- After being locally extinct for a century in Belém, the host city of next year’s COP30 climate summit, it’s being reintroduced by conservationists who have so far released 50 individuals into the wild since 2018.
- The golden parakeet plays an important role in ecosystem services, especially in seed dispersal of the popular açaí berry and up to 22 other plant species native to the Amazon.
- Conservationists say the project is an ongoing success, as the released golden parakeets have adapted well to life outside captivity and have even reproduced in the wild; the goal is to reintroduce another 50 birds over the next two years.
BELÉM, Brazil — The golden parakeet is as noisy as it is brightly colored. Hanging from the branches above, three of these medium-sized parrots screech and squawk as they peer down to get a better look at biologist Marcelo Vilarta as he observes them. Also known as golden conures, they’re striking birds with their vibrant yellow plumage and green wingtips distinct against the Amazonian vegetation. Yet it’s these colors that have put their population at risk of extinction.
The illegal pet trade, coupled with acute habitat loss, have reduced the population of golden parakeets (Guaruba guarouba) to fewer than 10,000 wild individuals — a tiny number for a large biome like the Brazilian Amazon, the only place on Earth where they’re natively found. They occur mostly in the state of Pará, with records also in the states of Maranhão and Amazonas.
“There aren’t any other golden parakeets [naturally in the wild] in any other place in the world,” Vilarta tells Mongabay. He’s part of a golden parakeet reintroduction project supported by the Institute for Forest Development and Biodiversity (IDEFLOR-Bio), a Pará state agency, and the nonprofit Lymington Foundation.
The program began in 2017, with the first flock of golden parakeets released into the wild in January 2018 in Utinga State Park in Belém, the capital of Pará and the host city of the COP30 climate summit in 2025. In Belém, the birds had been locally extinct for more than 100 years. The inquisitive golden parakeets watching Vilarta from the tree are three of the 50 that have been released here so far.
“The idea of the project is to reduce the vulnerability of the golden parakeet population and create a new wild one here in an area where they were already extinct,” Vilarta says.
Biologist Marcelo Vilarta spends every day monitoring and taking care of the golden parakeets in Utinga State Park. Having spent considerable time with these individuals, he’s able to identify and distinguish each one at a glance. Image by Sarah Brown.
Caught for its plumage
The golden parakeet plays an important role in seed dispersal,