Random luggage searches at Costa Rican airports occasionally result in unexpected findings. In 2007, a man tried to board a plane to Germany at Juan Santamaría Airport outside San José, the nation’s capital, with a bag full of green parrots. The trafficking of animals is the third-most practiced and profitable form of international illicit trade in the world, trailing only narcotics and weapons, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Animal trafficking generates revenues of US$10 billion annually worldwide, according to the WWF. (Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

A baby Green Macaw is taken out of its nest so it can be weighed by Costa Rican wildlife officials. (Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

Chris Castles, the co-director of the ARA Project, is responsible for the breeding center management, coordinating the release sites and fundraising. He joined the project in 2003 and has more than 20 years of experience working with birds, mostly parrots. (Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

A baby Great Green Macaw is weighed at a nursery. The ARA’s breeding center hosts the largest collection of captive Great Green Macaws worldwide. (Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

Chris Castles, the co-director of the ARA Project, holds a newborn Great Green Macaw at one of the NGO’s nurseries. The breeding center hosts nearly 100 Great Green Macaws and 100 Scarlet Macaws that will eventually be released into the wild. (Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

Two Scarlet Macaws are doing well at a nursery of the ARA Project in Alajuela, Costa Rica. Between 1999 and 2012, the NGO has released more than 80 scarlet macaws with an estimated 90% survival rate. (Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)

About 5% of the world’s biodiversity is found within Costa Rica’s 51,100-square kilometer (19,729-square mile) area, according to The Nature Conservancy, an international environmental organization. (Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters)