Hundreds of malnourished Amazon chicks, rescued in September during a dramatic police operation in Brazil, can thank Rolf C. Hagen Inc. (Montreal) for its substantial donation of Tropican Hand-Feeding Formula, developed by the Hagen Avicultural Research Institute.

More than 500 baby parrots were rescued from the back of a truck during a police operation for suspected drug smuggling in Bélem Sao Francisco, a small city in Brazil, according to Hagen.

The young Amazons, which are very valuable in the illegal wildlife trade, were tightly crammed into wire mesh cages and in poor health, the company said. Among the rescued birds were blue-fronted Amazon chicks (Amazona aestiva), yellow shoulder Amazons, yellow-faced Amazon chicks (Amazona xanthops) and smaller, local psittacine species.

The fragile birds were turned over to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, who in turn transferred them to the nonprofit Environmental Conservation Organization, based in Hendersonville, N.C. Faced with an overwhelming number of frail and hungry fledglings, the group, already operating under severely strained conditions, sent out an SOS for help.

Volunteers hand-fed the birds with special syringes fitted with long silicone tubes, which had to be inserted directly in the esophagus for efficient feeding and to prevent diseases like candidiasis and aspiration pneumonia.

An appeal for special baby parrot food was sent out to the international avian community, a plea that Hagen responded to with a 500-pound donation of its hand-feeding formula.

In Brazil, wildlife smuggling is a widespread problem with serious environmental consequences, because it threatens the extinction of wildlife species as well as creates an ecological imbalance to an already fragile ecosystem. Wild birds, particularly young ones, often fall prey to illegal wildlife traders. [February 2012 PET AGE]