The Endangered Puerto Rican Parrot

The Endangered Puerto Rican Parrot
When we hear of the term species, a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name comes to mind. However, when the term endangered is used in conjunction with species, this gives us a different perspective, as well as negative. Thus, an endangered species is a species threatened by extinction. The Puerto Rican Parrot falls under this category. This parrot has seen an extravagant population decrease over the last five hundred years. However, there stands a great chance for its recovery through captive breeding programs.
Before the invasion of the Columbus and other Europeans in 1493, the Puerto Rican Parrot was once a flourishing species throughout the forested regions of Puerto Rico, as well as its surrounding islands of Culebra, Vieques, and Mona (Pasquier 134). Around 1493, there were an estimated 100,000 parrots that existed (N. Snyder, et al., eds. 117). As a result to the European invasion, man hunted the...