African grey parrots are bright, intelligent, long living birds. They are known to be smart, talented mimics. But their popularity has taken a heavy toll on their wild populations. The parrot, which once flourished in Nigeria and several West African countries, has nearly disappeared from the wild due to unsustainable trapping and habitat loss. African grey parrots are one of the most commonly traded of all birds. More than one million wild grey parrots were likely traded between 1982 and 2001. Ifeanyi Ezenwa, a lecturer at the University of Nigeria's Department of Zoology and Environmental Biology, has been keeping track of these activities since 2017. He also works for the World Parrot Trust, an international NGO focused on the conservation and welfare of parrots.
