WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 31/12/2025In the wild, leopards and other big cats are at the top of the food chain, but they aren’t safe from humans. Poaching for the illegal wildlife trade puts these apex predators—and countless other species—at risk. Investigative reporting reveals the criminal networks responsible. 130
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 30/12/2025Attention is protection. Investigative journalism matters for nature. Your support helps ensure crimes against wildlife and the environment do not go unseen. Donate this holiday season at the 🔗 in bio and secure.qgiv.com/for/wire! 🎁❤️ | Photo by: Neil D'Cruze 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 19/12/2025Florida parrot Apollo, who belongs to Dalton and Tori Mason, has 3 million TikTok followers. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 010
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 18/12/2025A captured parrot had its feathers plucked so it wouldn’t fly away. The bird died soon after being rescued. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 17/12/2025A ban on commercial whaling nearly 60 years ago was meant to protect this mother humpback and her calf. But laws only matter when violations are exposed. Without investigative reporting, exploitation at sea continues unseen. Your support helps protect the ocean. Donate today at the 🔗 in bio! 🎁❤️ 100
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 16/12/2025Most of the African grey parrots rehabilitated at the Dingi center in the Democratic Republic of Congo fly free after their recovery, but a few tame ones have chosen to stay. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 15/12/2025A man who says he no longer traps wild African grey parrots since the DRC banned the activity shows his collection of decoys. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 15/12/2025At sunset, a group of African grey parrots gather near the top of an enclosure at a parrot rehabilitation center in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they’re recovering after being seized from wildlife traffickers. Read the full story 🔗 in bio & wireonline.org. 📸 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 14/12/2025In the Democratic Republic of Congo, conservationists John and Terese Hart work to halt the illegal trade decimating wild African grey parrots. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 12/12/2025Caged parrots are prone to atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke. Healthy greys often outlive their human companions, suffering anxiety and depression when they suddenly find themselves without their person. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson. 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 11/12/2025A pair of African grey parrots at a commercial breeding farm in South Africa perches on a branch in their cage. Videos of talking birds online have helped create such a high demand for grey parrots, a chick can sell for as much as $7,000 in some pet shops. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio. 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/12/2025Approximately 200 commercial breeding farms in South Africa supply African grey parrots to the pet trade. Most of them are shipped thousands of miles to markets in the Middle East. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/12/2025African grey parrots evolved to have a complex awareness of their world. Studies show they’re capable of using a wide vocabulary, identifying colors and shapes, and understanding forms of matter. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 08/12/2025African grey parrots are social, gregarious birds that live in large flocks in the wild. They’ve been popular pets since way before TikTok. Queen Victoria had several grey parrots as pets who spoke French, made jokes, and sang, “God save the queen.” Read the full story 🔗 in bio. 100
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 07/12/2025Animal welfare activists say the treatment of parrots raised for the pet trade is cruel and inhumane. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 06/12/2025Roughly 400 rehabilitated African grey parrots, rescued from the illegal pet trade, have returned to the forest after recovering at this conservation center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 010
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 05/12/2025South Africa remains the world’s largest exporter of captive-bred grey parrots, but wildlife investigators suspect that wild-caught birds are being laundered through legal channels. Read the full story at the 🔗in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 04/12/2025African grey parrots rescued from traffickers are loaded into a van for transport to a bird rehabilitation center in Dingi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 03/12/2025Many parrots come from commercial farms with rows of hundreds of caged breeding pairs producing chicks that are sold and shipped often thousands of miles in cramped wooden boxes. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Today is Giving Tuesday. If you believe the public deserves the truth about wildlife crime and environmental harm, please support WIRE’s investigative reporting. Your gift fuels independent journalism that investigates those exploiting wildlife and nature. Donate at the 🔗 in bio and below. 🧡 200
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 02/12/2025African grey parrots are the great apes of the bird world. They have a brain the size of a walnut, but the intelligence of young children. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson #TheParrotCartel 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 01/12/2025An armed guard at a rehabilitation center in the Democratic Republic of Congo gently greets a tame African grey parrot rescued from traffickers. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner #TheParrotCartel 010
Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & EditorsRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 30/11/2025TikTok is obsessed with talking parrots. It’s fueling a global black market. Rolling Stone reports ⤵bit.lyTikTok Is Obsessed With Talking Parrots. It's Fueling a Global Black Market 3295
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 30/11/2025African grey parrots seized from poachers stay at the parrot rehabilitation center for several months, regrowing the feathers cut by poachers and exercising in flight cages until they’re strong enough to fly free. #TheParrotCartel 100
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 28/11/2025John and Terese Hart, who run a bird rehabilitation center in the Democratic Republic of Congo, invite dignitaries from around the country to come see rescued African grey parrots returning to the wild. Some even help set the birds free. #TheParrotCartel 100
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 27/11/2025African grey parrots rescued from the illegal pet trade recover from their ordeal at a rehab center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Soon they’ll join the hundreds of birds that have returned to the wild from this center. #TheParrotCartel 110
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 26/11/2025Workers at a parrot rehabilitation center in the Democratic Republic of Congo feed the birds a diverse diet of papaya, pineapple, corn, peanuts, sugarcane, and palm nuts. Most birds return to the wild, but a few tame ones have chosen to stay. 100
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 25/11/2025An African grey parrot seized from poachers is gently netted in a temporary holding cage before being transferred to a wooden crate, joining more than a dozen other seized parrots. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner 010
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 24/11/2025@rollingstone.com Reports: TikTok's Talking Parrot Obsession Is Fueling a Global Black Market | 🎥🎬 WATCH THE FILM HERE ⬇️ m.youtube.com/watch?v=460m...m.youtube.comRS Reports: TikTok's Talking Parrot Obsession Is Fueling a Global Black MarketYouTube video by Rolling Stone 010
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 24/11/2025Seized from poachers, three African grey parrots arrive at a rescue center in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a grueling journey. Placed in clean cages with sugar water, fruit, and corn, the birds begin a months-long recovery. 110
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 23/11/2025Middlemen like Theo Tshipamba in the Democratic Republic of Congo buy poached African grey parrots for about $10 each. Although the country recently banned the capture and trade of African greys, smuggling continues underground, allowing traders to make significant profits. 110
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 23/11/2025At a rescue center in the Democratic Republic of Congo, biologist John Hart documents an African grey parrot rescued from traffickers. Its wing feathers have been crudely cut to prevent flight. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner @kaigner 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 22/11/2025At a rescue center, a caretaker cleans cages and tends to confiscated birds—most destined to return to the wild once they recover from the trauma of being captured by poachers. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner 000
Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & EditorsScience Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 21/11/2025They’re cute, they’re charismatic, they’re all over TikTok: @wire-wildlife.bsky.social Editor in Chief Rene Ebersole spent over a year investigating how internet fame has intensified the illegal trade of African grey parrots.buff.lyAfrican Grey Parrots Are Popular—And It’s Fueling Illegal TradeTalkative African grey parrots are charismatic internet stars. A global scramble to source and sell the birds threatens their survival. 43810
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 21/11/2025In the Democratic Republic of Congo, conservationists John and Terese Hart work to halt the illegal trade decimating wild African grey parrots. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 📸 by Karine Aigner 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 20/11/2025Parrot exporter Gideon Fourie greets his two tigers through the fence with a casual “hello, pussycat.” A glimpse into the world of people who keep and trade exotic animals. Read the full story at the 🔗 in bio and at wireonline.org. 🎥 by Carissa Henderson 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 19/11/2025Gideon Fourie’s quarantine facility in Rustenburg, South Africa, is a holding station for everything from parrots and giraffes to ostriches and lions — but African grey parrots, mostly bound for the Middle East and Asia, are the heart of his profitable wildlife export business. 100
Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & EditorsRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025A Rolling Stone x WIRE investigation: TikTok Is Obsessed With Parrots. It’s Fueling a Global Black Market A probe into the African-grey trade reveals a web of poachers, egg smugglers, businessmen & multitudes who want a talking bird. Read: www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult... 85618
Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & EditorsRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025Rolling Stone teamed up with Wildlife Investigative Reporters and Editors (WIRE), a nonprofit journalism organization exposing wildlife crime and exploitation of nature. Watch the mini-doc made in association with RS Films here: youtu.be/460m3L9Xwxoyoutu.beRS Reports: TikTok's Talking Parrot Obsession Is Fueling a Global Black MarketYouTube video by Rolling Stone 39131
Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & EditorsRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025TikTok is obsessed with talking parrots. It’s fueling a global black market. Rolling Stone reports ⤵bit.lyTikTok Is Obsessed With Talking Parrots. It's Fueling a Global Black Market 3248
Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & EditorsRolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025The rising demand for African grey parrots and the price for a single bird — as much as $7,000 — drive rampant poaching. An estimated 1.3 million were traded from 1975-2015, but the true number taken was likely far higher because most die in transit. 🔗 www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult... 1010133
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 18/09/2025We surpassed our goal! The support we received ensures we can finish the short film for WIRE’s first investigation — publishing online in a major international publication this November. Thank you for believing in fearless journalism and helping us bring this work to life. 010
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/09/2025We’re excited to introduce WIRE—Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors, an independent journalism nonprofit. Our mission: expose crimes, corruption, and hidden forces driving wildlife exploitation—and make sure these stories aren't ignored. A glimpse of our first investigation, coming soon. 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/09/2024🐒 This time, we're testing how our social media scheduling tools handle alt text. Thank you for your patience as we do some housekeeping! 020
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/09/2024🐒 This time, we're testing how our social media scheduling tools handle alt text. Thank you for your patience as we do some housekeeping! 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 09/09/2024👋 We're WIRE! We're creating rigorous, compelling investigative journalism for the good of wildlife and society. This is a test post for us. Learn more about us here: https:// buff.ly/3ZbCSE2 000
WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 09/09/2024👋 We're WIRE! We're creating rigorous, compelling investigative journalism for the good of wildlife and society. This is a test post for us. Learn more about us here: https:// buff.ly/3ZbCSE2 000