Status Updates From Endangered

We adore parrots and, in fact, they in turn can develop a particular affection for us, but we must recognize them as living beings, and not as living ornaments.
—Paradox

The connection you might feel to a parrot that returns your greetings is not misguided, as it means you are a part of their flock. Macaws imitate our words, but cannot understand them. If they could, they might persuade us to leave them in their trees, and to leave those trees in the ground.

The big picture:

Coral reefs are lifelines for our oceans.
Lining the coasts of a few tropical countries,
they cover less than 0.1 percent of Earth's
surface, but are home to a quarter of all
marine life.