Scarlet Macaws can live as long as 80 or 90 years in captivity. Besides Honduras, they are found in Guatemala, Belize, Panama and Costa Rica, where they are critically endangered. Deforestation, pesticides, and poaching are some of the primary factors destroying the populations of these intelligent birds.
If you're interested in having a pet Scarlet Macaw, or any type of parrot, make sure you purchase the bird from a breeder. Poaching and smuggling the wild birds (worth thousands of dollars in many cases) has resulted in countless deaths. I've read that for every wild macaw who makes it in a pet store, numerous macaws are killed in transit. It's an appalling practice, and illegal besides.
