• In early October, 50 African gray parrots were released into the wild by the Lukuru Foundation, after having been rescued from poachers and undergoing rehabilitation for a year at a refuge run by the foundation.
• The foundation’s two parrot rehabilitation centers have been joined by a third one, at Kisangani Zoo, in April, which has already received 112 African grays.
• As the DRC begins enforcing a July ban on the trade in African grays, authorities will need to raise awareness in communities, dismantle well-established trading networks, and ensure released birds aren’t recaptured, conservationists say.

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LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo — Fifty African gray parrots have been released back into the wild in the Democratic Republic of Congo following their rescue from the illegal wildlife trade. Their release, in the central province of Maniema this October, came after a year spent rehabilitating at a sanctuary run by the locally based Lukuru Foundation, which has cared for and released around 400 parrots recovered from traffickers. As enforcement of a new decree published by the DRC’s environment ministry begins, the foundation’s rehabilitation centers are anticipating plenty more work to do.

On July 31, 2025, the DRC published a decree prohibiting the capture, possession or commercialization of African gray parrots (Psittacus erithacus). The ban was preceded by a similar measure adopted earlier by authorities in Tshopo province, in the northern DRC, whose capital, Kisangani, serves as the main hub for the parrot trade.

But a month later, captured parrots were still present in the Ngungwa and Kimwachi communities in Maniema, according to Corneille Kalume, manager of the NGO Community Action for Environmental Management (Action Communautaire pour la Gestion de l’Environnement) based in Kindu, the provincial capital.

“Poachers are still capturing parrots,” Kalume told Mongabay over the phone. “It is good to have a ministerial decree banning poaching, but there needs to be action on the ground to stop people from trapping the birds.”

Gray parrots seized in an antitrafficking operation at Lodja, DRC. Image courtesy of Adams Cassinga.

Rehabilitation centers for seized parrots

The parrot trade is violent and deadly. Only a third of captured birds survive the journey from the DRC’s forests to buyers overseas, according to the Lukuru Foundation. The foundation includes committed government representatives, legal experts, as well as John and Terese Hart, two conservationists from the U.S. who have been working in the DRC for 40 years.

In April 2025, the foundation and the ICCN, the DRC’s conservation agency, established a parrot conservation center at Kisangani Zoo. By September, the new center had already received 112 parrots, according to Gentil Kisangani, the zoo’s director.

The new center added extra capacity to receive and rehabilitate birds recovered from traffickers, which are often in bad condition, with their flight feathers clipped and their wings sometimes broken. Lukuru had already established rehabilitation centers for parrots at Lodja, in Sankuru province, and at Dingi, in Maniema.

Rehabilitation can sometimes be slow and costly, says Terese Hart. Budgets for the rehabilitation centers need to cover treatment and food for the birds, as well as maintenance and inspections. There are also expenses for food for carers who don’t live near the centers, as is the case for the one in Dingi, and for other support for the staff.

“To care for 100 parrots for one month, [the cost] ranges from $1,300 in Lodja, $2,200 at Kisangani Zoo, and $2,900 in Dingi,” Hart says. “Building an aviary amounts to over $1,000 and varies depending on the cost of materials and labor. We have seven aviaries in Dingi, three in Kisangani and one in Lodja.”

The first parrot releases from the Kisangani center aren’t expected until the end of 2025, according to the zoo’s director. But 50 birds that had completed their rehabilitation in Maniema were ready to be released by early October: “397 parrots have regained their ability to fly and have already been released. We’re anticipating roughly 50 more to take flight later this week,” Hart wrote in an email to Mongabay in late September.

An African grey parrot flying. Image courtesy of Robert01 via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

A major challenge: Ensuring released birds are safe

Despite the joy prompted by each bird that recovers and returns to the wild, there’s a risk that the birds are being cycled back into the trafficking loop, according to Bijou Koy, environment minister of neighboring Tshopo province. “There is a high risk that, following their release, the same birds could be captured again by the same people. With the signing of the decree [protecting parrots], awareness campaigns will be necessary,” she told Mongabay in a phone interview.

The parrot trade is seen as a source of easy profit. With some public officials involved in it, compliance with the new regulations banning all commercial trade will not be easy, conservationists say.

“It is difficult to be sure that no staff member at the center is involved in trafficking,” Gentil Kisangani says. “But we also cannot suspect employees without any evidence.

“It is important to strengthen other mechanisms related to the protection of wild spaces, such as raising awareness among local communities and Indigenous populations, and involving political, administrative, and military authorities,” he adds.

“Safety cannot be guaranteed post-release,” Hart says. “Our Maniema and Tshopo centers are located on ICCN land where rangers are present. We will continue to advocate for the enforcement of stronger laws to protect parrots and for their efficient enforcement.”

Banner image: African gray parrots at a refuge in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Image courtesy of WCS.

This story was first published here in French on Oct. 10, 2025.

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