The trade of live parrots is a threat to wild populations but is understudied. Madagascar is home to three parrot species listed on CITES Appendix II: Coracopsis nigra, Coracopsis vasa and Agapornis canus. Prior to this study there were no data on the ownership of parrots in Madagascar. We therefore aimed to investigate the extent of the domestic pet trade in this group. Our objectives were to quantify the prevalence, spatial extent, and timing of ownership. We collected data in July and August 2016 in nine urban towns across Madagascar, using semi-structured household surveys (n = 440). We found that the ownership of pet parrots is widespread in time and space; 37% (95% CI 26–48%) of interviewees had seen, and 8% (95% CI 3–13%) had owned, a Coracopsis sp. Fewer interviewees (4.5% of all interviewees) had seen A. canus in captivity, and only one individual reported having previously owned an A. canus. We estimate that 1,290 Coracopsis spp. individuals were held in captivity in the towns surveyed, in the 1.5 years prior to our interviews. It is likely that much of this ownership is illegal, although we did not examine this explicitly. Additional research is needed to determine whether current extraction rates are sustainable. This study adds to a growing body of evidence that the domestic regulation of the trade of wild species is not being addressed adequately in Madagascar.

Interactions among fleshy fruits and frugivore assemblages are presented from a 1-y study in the littoral forest of Sainte Luce, south-eastern Madagascar. This community-level approach allowed us to determine food selection by all consumer species and to evaluate the role different frugivores play in seed dispersal and predation. For this, interactions between 136 consumed fruit species and 13 frugivorous species were studied. Fruit and seed size were the most important physical factors determining food selection of all consumer species. Nutritionally birds favoured and mammals avoided lipid-rich fruits. For Cheirogaleus spp., that go into torpor, there was a trend to select sugar-rich fruit pulp. However, for numerous fruit traits the consumer species had no clear feeding preferences and they seemed to be quite flexible, eating whatever was available. This might be related to unpredictable fruit availability and low fruit productivity in the littoral forest, which may also partially explain the low number of frugivores present. Nevertheless frugivores have different impacts on seed dispersal. Eulemur fulvus collaris is particularly important for the dispersal of large-seeded species, while frugivorous birds and flying foxes ensure plant regeneration between and outside forest fragments. In terms of conservation, heterogeneous seed transport is particularly important for this severely degraded littoral forest.