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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors

@wire-wildlife.bsky.social
103 followers 3 following 59 posts

Rigorous, independent investigative journalism for the good of wildlife and society. 🌎📸 Read our first investigation “The Parrot Cartel” here: wireonline.org/reporting/the-parrot…

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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
In 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
Attention 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Florida 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
A 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
A 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! 🎁❤️
Photo by Carra O’Neal
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Most 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
A 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
At 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. 📸
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
In 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
Caged 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
A 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Approximately 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
African 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
African 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Animal 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Roughly 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
South 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
African 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Many 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Today 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. 🧡
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
African 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
An 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
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Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 30/11/2025
TikTok is obsessed with talking parrots. It’s fueling a global black market. Rolling Stone reports ⤵
bit.ly
TikTok Is Obsessed With Talking Parrots. It's Fueling a Global Black Market
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
African 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
John 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
African 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Workers 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
An 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
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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.com
RS Reports: TikTok's Talking Parrot Obsession Is Fueling a Global Black Market
YouTube video by Rolling Stone
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Seized 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
Middlemen 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
At 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
At 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
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Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
They’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.
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African Grey Parrots Are Popular—And It’s Fueling Illegal Trade
Talkative African grey parrots are charismatic internet stars. A global scramble to source and sell the birds threatens their survival.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
In 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Parrot 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
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Gideon 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.
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Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025
A 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...
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Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025
Rolling 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/460m3L9Xwxo
youtu.be
RS Reports: TikTok's Talking Parrot Obsession Is Fueling a Global Black Market
YouTube video by Rolling Stone
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Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025
TikTok is obsessed with talking parrots. It’s fueling a global black market. Rolling Stone reports ⤵
bit.ly
TikTok Is Obsessed With Talking Parrots. It's Fueling a Global Black Market
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Reposted by WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors
Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 18/11/2025
The 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...
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
We 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.
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WIRE: Wildlife Investigative Reporters & Editors @wire-wildlife.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
We’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.
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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!
This is a burnt orange card that reads: "This is a test of how our social media scheduling tools handle image groups. We're excited to join the conversation."
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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!
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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
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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
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