An in-depth report on the illegal parrot trade found that tens of thousands of parrots and macaws are being unlawfully captured in the country each year. Many of them die from stress, rough handling, disease, crush injuries or dehydration during capture and transport before reaching their destination.

Educational efforts to halt this massive trade were initiated by the World Parrot Trust and its partner in Mexico, Defenders of Wildlife.  The effort aimed to stop the local trade in parrots through a poster and comic book campaign. Parrots are still traded in the open in Mexican markets and this initiative focuses on educating the public to understand the illegality of buying parrots and causing harm to individual birds and wild populations. The posters include both comic images and a series of comic images and paintings depicting endangered species. The WPT helped produce seven different posters for the series – two macaws and seven Amazon parrots, all of which are endangered.

In 2008, the Mexican government permanently outlawed the trapping and export of their native parrots – a huge step forward. The ban protects Mexico’s 22 species of parrots and macaws. Work is ongoing as trapping still occurs.