Hi, it's Ira Flato. The SciFri Book Club is reading the biggest ideas in the universe by physicist Sean and Carol for our December pick, and you are invited to join the fun. If you're in New York City, come see Sean and me live at the Green Space on Friday, December 5th, or join us online for the free live stream.

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Hey, I'm Flora Lichten, and you're listening to Science Friday.

Can you picture parrots, the cute, charismatic stars of your TikTok feed perched at the center

of a global crime web?

The illegal wildlife trade is on car with guns, human trafficking, and drugs.

But the thing is, it's a low-risk, high-reward crime.

Surely you've seen a video like this at some point.

African gray parrots are internet stars. And you can see why. I mean, they're fascinating to watch.

They sing, tell jokes, sling profanities. They're perfect for the algorithm. But how do they get from

African forests to your feed? That's the subject of a new investigation into the global parrot trade

and the black market for wild African grays

that's threatening their existence. Joining me now is Renee Ebersol. She's the editor-in-chief

at Wildlife Investigative Reporters and editors, Wire, and her feature story on the African

gray parrot trade just published in Rolling Stone. Renee, welcome to Science Friday.

Thank you. It's great to be here.

So what's the demand like for these birds?

There's a very strong demand for African gray parrots.

They're very popular online.

Many of the TikTok stars have millions of fans.

And that attention online has fueled an interest in more people

having them as pets. And because of that interest, people who tend to exploit systems legal or

...