Captive breeding is not the answer — protection in the wild is. A focus on captive breeding also ignores the welfare of the individual animals. Even in the most modern breeding facilities in the United States, birds typically are housed in conditions that fail to meet their physical and behavioral needs. The welfare of birds held in captive breeding facilities in developing countries is most assuredly similar or worse. Whether birds are wild-caught or captive bred, their welfare in captivity is frequently poor. It is very difficult to meet the needs of these intelligent, highly social, flight-adapted animals in a home environment. The only real solution is to replace demand for parrots as pets with demand for keeping parrots (and all wildlife) in the wild.