By Rosemary Low

Many parrot populations worldwide are facing very difficult times. In some cases the pandemic has made their situations worse because the field workers and conservationists whose presence protects them are absent. Severe weather conditions, such as floods and hurricanes, caused by global warming, and widespread fires, mostly started by people, have had a catastrophic effect on wildlife.

However, worldwide there are many people with the passion and the persistence to play a part in saving endangered species. One of these is LoraKim Joyner. She started her professional life as an avian veterinarian and is now primarily involved in parrot conservation. She worked in Guatemala, in Central America, trying to save the populations of Yellow-naped Parrots there, between 1991 and 1995.

Some readers may recall that I wrote about LoraKim in my People Helping Parrots series, and this article
was published in October 2019.

There were several strands to her work – monitoring the nests of the Amazons and conures for scientific purposes (such as taking blood to check for diseases), preventing chicks from being poached, trying to educate the local people about conservation, and looking after confiscated parrots. She also acted as veterinarian to private collections, including that of the President of Guatemala. It was a brutal environment where guerrillas and robbers lurked around every corner, and neighbours were killed in broad daylight. LoraKim and her small team risked their lives almost daily. To the poachers, she was the enemy.

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