Unscrupulous people are stealing thousands of baby parrots from the parklands of Bahoruco and Jaragua in the southwest. The baby parrots are then sold to buyers in the large cities for RD$2,000 each. Reports from the parklands suggest that during May and June alone over three thousand chicks were stolen from their nests. When ten chicks were seized in a vehicle in the town of Oviedo, nobody admitted to owning the little fellows. Authorities have reported that in Aguas Negras, Las Mercedes, Sitio Nuevo and El Mogote in Perdenales, 1,200 birds were taken; in Oviedo, inside the Jaragua Park, 900 and in Puerto Escondido, part of Oviedo, another 1,000 were taken. Sources close to the scene told El Caribe reporters that the worst part was that there are not enough people responsible for protecting the parks, and they lack the necessary resources to carry out their work in the face of the large number of human predators in the area. “The park rangers have their hands tied because they can’t stop anybody unless they are caught red handed and they have a court order for the arrest,” was one comment.