Wild Kakapo Parrot Research

The Kakapo Parrot, also known as the Owl Parrot, is the heaviest parrot in the world.  Two other features make it extraordinary; it is also the only flightless parrot and the only nocturnal parrot known to man.  Native to New Zealand, the Kakapo Parrots, are critcally endangered.  As of November 16,  2009, there are 124 Kakapo Parrots in the wild.  With such a low gene pool, recovering this unusual, almost prehistoric parrot species has been difficult.

 How did this unique parrot become so endangered?  Prior to settlement, Native New Zealand had two mammals on the islands, bats.  Obviously not predators of the Kakapo Parrot.  With the introduction of the Polynesian peoples and European settlers, came predatory mammals such as rats, ferrets, cats, dogs and more.  The flightless, fearless Kakapoo parrot was defenseless against new mammals.  Not only that, the unusual parrots simply did not even know that they had to retreat from these foreign mammals.  Polynesian and European settlers prized Kakapo feathers and skin, as well as their meat.  Records show that European settlers sent the first found Kakap0 skin to England for examination.  The 1889 study found the Kakapo parrot to be the oldest, least developed parrot known to man, which only made collection of taxidermy specimens of this precious parrot more popular; diminishing their wild numbers yet further. 

By 1952, New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs became alarmed with the diminishing Kakapo Parrot population and thereby started  conservation efforts.  New Zealand terrain and mammal predators make recovery efforts of this beutiful parrot difficult, at best.  Wild parrots had to be moved to outlaying islands.  Kakapo Parrot recovery efforts thankfully have an international appeal.  PLEASE visit the KAKAPO RECOVERY PROGRAMME to find out what you can do to insure the Kapako Parrots’ survival.

So you want to help the Kakapo Parrot Recovery Programme, but you’re not sure how?

Well, the best opportunity as an individual is through fyour inancial support AND SPREADING THE WORD, . Saving endangered species is an expensive, long term business.

Please Donate any amount:

• $100 buys disease screening for one bird
• $250 buys a radio tracking aerial
• $1000 buys a portable incubator
• $1600 buys a radio-telemetry receiver

NO amount is too small – any donation will go directly towards kakapo parrot recovery – thank you SO much for your generosity!

PAYPAL DONATION: kakapovolunteers@doc.govt.nz

Send a cheque:

The Kakapo Recovery Programme
c/- PO Box 631
Wellington 6140
New Zealand

Please ensure you include your name and address if you would like to receive a donation receipt.

Have you heard of Parrot Mountain & Gardens located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee?  I’d love to go!  They advertise that Parrot Mountain is 4 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens with hundreds of tropical birds housed in English Cottage style aviaries.

Racoon123 writes on TripAdvisor:

THE ISSUE – WHAT IS HR 669? – WHAT WILL IT DO? “ONE GENERATION AND OUT” is not just limited to purebred dogs and cats. Now our “non-native” species” are targets of the animal prohibitionist agenda. Under HR 669, “non-native” basically means if a species of animal didn’t live in the US before the arrival of Columbus it is “non-native”, and if HR 669 passes, most non-native species of animal (i.e., exotic animals) won’t remain in the US much longer. That means your exotic pet bird, reptile, fish, or mammal. HR 669 is a very serious and harmful animal prohibition proposal. HR 669 is not needed to protect our environment.

HR 699 is the legislative equivalent of a nuclear bomb that is aimed at the
entire US exotic pet industry, all US exotic pet owners, and all exotic animals
in the US.

HR 669 is an “anti-animal bill”. There is no amendment that can fix this bill. HR 669 will hurt everyone who owns an animal, and it will hurt our animals. Breeder, pet owner, rescuer, rehabilitator, zoo, service or product provider – it doesn’t matter – we will all be hurt by this bill.

HR 669 needs to be killed at the April 23rd hearing – not amended, not “made better” – HR 669 NEEDS TO BE KILLED. Please contact the Representatives hearing this bill NOW and ask them to KILL HR 669 (see below for contact information).

All import, export, transport across State lines, selling, buying, bartering, or offering to sell, buy or barter, and all breeding, and release, of all non-native species not on the “approved list” will be prohibited – even by zoos, sanctuaries, and licensed breeders. Permits authorizing only “importation” may be issued to “zoos, scientific research, medical, accredited zoological or aquarium display purposes, or for educational purposes that are specifically reviewed, approved, and verified by the Secretary”. There is no requirement that any permits be granted. Even if these institutions are able to obtain the required permits, where will they obtain their imported animals?

Habitat for many species is declining worldwide, many species are endangered or threatened in the wild, and many species cannot be imported to the US under the CITES treaty.

The result of this bill will be to put a stop domestic breeding of most endangered or threatened species in the US for zoos, conservation, or reintroduction programs. Zoos are not immune from the animal prohibitionist agenda.

If you “possess” a non-approved species “legally” prior to enactment of the law, you will be allowed to keep it, but all of the other restrictions pf HR 669 will still apply to your species – you will not be allowed to sell, transfer, transport across State lines, export, barter, trade, breed, or give that animal to anyone else.

Pet owners will not be allowed to take their non-approved pets with them if they
move to another state, and they will not be allowed to transfer them to anyone
else who can care for them. Those pets will be euthanized when their owners
move, die, or can no longer keep their pets for whatever reason. Pet owners and
their pets are not immune from the animal prohibitionist agenda.

“Rescue” and “sanctuary” will not be available for any non-approved species unless the rescue or sanctuary keeps only species found within their respective States. That result has been contemplated for years. Rescues and Sanctuaries are not immune from the animal prohibitionist agenda.

Any person or company manufacturing or selling food or products for non-native (exotic) species will be affected by this act. If non-native (exotic) species cannot be legally possessed, bought, sold, or transferred, there will be no incentive for manufacturers of food, caging, and supplies for these animals to remain in business. Where will non-native (exotic) animal owners obtain the food and materials needed to keep their animals? Freeflight of exotic birds will be prohibited.

THE LEGAL DETAILS OF THIS BILL Under existing federal law, it must be shown that a species is harmful before it is prohibited. That approach is reasonable, and has worked reasonably well for many years. In essence, HR 669 turns that reasonable approach on its head, and substitutes the unreasonable and unjustified approach of “bomb first, ask questions later”. HR 669 requires the government to create an “approved” list of “non-native” species that will be allowed in the US. Any species not on the “approved” list will be prohibited.

HR 669 the “approved” list shall include “nonnative wildlife species that the Secretary finds … based on scientific and commercial information ….

• (A) are not harmful to the United States’ economy, the environment, or other animal species’ or human health; or
• (B) may be harmful to the United States’ economy, the environment, or other animal species’ or human health, but already are so widespread in the United States that it is clear to the Secretary that any import prohibitions or restrictions would have no practical utility for the United States.”

It takes time and money for the government to study any species and make a “finding”. Time and money are always in short supply, and are especially in short supply in this economy. If your species is not included on the original “approved list”, then under HR 669 you can try to get your species “approved” by paying a fee and submitting a proposal to our government to include it on the “approved list”. Your proposal “must include sufficient scientific and commercial information to allow the Secretary to evaluate whether the proposed nonnative wildlife species is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to other animal species’ or human health.” While your proposal is being “evaluated” by our government, you and your animals are still subject to the restrictions of HR 669. Whether your proposal will ever be granted is pure speculation.

There are more than 9000 bird species, and thousands of species of birds are kept in the US. There are many other non-native (exotic) species owned by animal lovers across the US. How many bird or other non-native (exotic) species do you think our government can afford to study and determine that they can be added to this newly created “approved list”? If the required study can’t be made of a species, and the required finding isn’t made about a species, the animal won’t make it to the approved list. That applies to every species of non-native (exotic) animal.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP KILL HR 669 Contact your Representatives NOW

• 1. You can use NAIA’s Capwiz tool to send an automatic email or fax to each of the Representatives who will hear this bill to ask them to KILL HR 669. Here’s the link to send your email using Capwiz:<www.capwiz.com/naiatrust/>
• 2. PIJAC has provided us with a PDF flyer which explains to pet owners how HR 669 will hurt all of us and our animals. The PIJAC PDF flyer is attached to this email. The PIJAC PDF flyer provides you with contact information – use it. Please contact your own Representatives NOW, and tell them to KILL HR 669. Be polite and respectful, but be clear and firm in your opposition to this bill. Be brief, and tell them a few reasons why you think it is a bad bill. Short and to the point works best. If you have time, you can also contact all of the other Representatives in your State. Write to your Representative using their contact pages on their websites. Unfortunately, it is sometimes hard for us to contact some of our Representatives – emails don’t often go through, letters aren’t read, and we sometimes have to write individually to our Representatives using the contact pages they put up on their websites. PIJAC has done the work to give us links where needed for these contact pages for these websites so that we can make those contacts (see the attached PIJAC PDF flyer), and NAIA is making “Capwiz” available for the one-shot contact – go to the Capwiz webpage at <www.capwiz.com/naiatrust/> Call and Fax your Representative at the numbers provided on the attached PDF PIJAC flyer. Be sure to contact the local office of your own Representative by phone, and if you can, make a personal visit. Our congressional representatives are now on recess, and will return to their work at the Capitol next week. Let your Representatives’ local offices know NOW that you want them to KILL HR 669. If the local staff hear from enough constituents that they want a bill killed, they will let their Representatives know that their constituents hate this bill.
• 3. Distribute this email, NAIA’s link, and PIJAC’s PDF flyer widely to everyone you know who loves animals and wants to keep them in our lives. In particular, send it to any pet lists you are on. This bill will impact almost all non-native animals. Ask them to contact the representatives and ask them to KILL HR 669. You can see PIJAC’s earlier alert on HR 669 here: <http://www.pijac.org/files/public/US_HR_669.pdf> You can see the full text of the bill here: <http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h669ih.txt.pdf>
• 4. If you have a website or belong to a discussion list, post this Alert and the PDF attachment. Ask your friends to do the same. A NOTE ALL ANIMAL OWNERS, AND ESPECIALLY TO BIRD OWNERS Does the Pennsylvania Proposed Ban of the Nanday Conure of 2008 ring a bell for anyone? For those bird owners who fought so hard and so well for the Nanday in Pennsylvania in 2008 – that was just target practice.

HR 669 IS THE ANIMAL PROHIBITIONIST NUCLEAR OPTION – STOP IT NOW. Get your phones, emails, and faxes working and get our troops marching again. We need every one of you to help again, and we need the help of everyone you know. It doesn’t matter if they own a bird, a dog, a cat, a turtle, a hamster, a fish, a snake, a tiger, a monkey, or any other animal. We are all affected by this bill. Don’t let the animal prohibitionists force their agenda on the rest of us. Thanks, Genny WallAttorney at LawLegislative VP, AFA, NAIA Laurella DesboroughLegislative Chair, ASA, NAIA

Captive parrots are facing an epidemic of overpopulation and homelessness. We’re finding that good bird homes are hard to find. You see, parrots are different than domesticated pets like cats and dogs. Parrots take a tremendous amount of attention and care and when they don’t get it they frequently develop behavior problems. On top of that, many of the larger species can live 40-80 years and often outlive their caretakers. When the caretakers interests change, Polly has to find a new home.

You can help solve this problem by not breeding birds and by adopting a displaced bird rather than buying one from a pet store or breeder if you are ready to make a lifetime care commitment. We suggest that if you are a current bird owner or if you want a bird, learn about their needs for enrichment and make a commitment to provide enriching activities for your parrot. Click here for cool parrot enrichment supplies.

1. GET TO KNOW ABOUT PARROTS BEFORE YOU BRING ME HOME – I am not a domesticated pet like a dog or cat. I still have the spirit of the jungle in me. I have special needs which you may find it hard to fill. Please don’t learn these too late for my well-being. And please don’t acquire one of my cousins wild from the jungle—it will jeopardize his survival and well-being, and that won’t be a party for you either!
2. GIVE ME THE LARGEST HOME POSSIBLE – I am used to flying through rainforests or savannas. I have given up this great gift for your pleasure. At the very least, give me enough room to flap my wings and exercise. And, I need toys for my amusement and wood to chew. Otherwise, I might confuse your home with the forest and its trees.
3. GIVE ME A NUTRITIOUS DIET - I need a wide variety of fresh and nutritious foods, even if they take time to prepare. I cannot survive on seeds alone and be healthy. Take time to learn what my needs and preferences are.
4. LET ME HAVE A SOCIAL LIFE – I am a gregarious flock animal, but I am not one of you. I need lots of socialization to learn how to interact with you as well as my siblings. I also need to have adequate quality time with you every day—no matter what your schedule or other needs are. I am a living, feeling creature. Above all, I need to be able to have complete trust in you and count on your predictability in looking after me—every day.
5. LET ME BE CLEAN – I may like to drop food or even throw it, but I need meticulous cleanliness to be healthy. My skin itches without frequent showers, the barbs of my feathers won’t seal if they become oily and, worst of all, I may become ill if my food or water is not always sanitary.
6. I NEED MY OWN DOCTOR – You may not understand my physiology and therefore you may not recognize it early on when I get sick. And, it may be too late when you do, because I hide my illnesses. (Remember what I said about my being an animal of the jungle, where there are lots of predators.) And I need an avian vet—a specialist. (No HMOs for me please.) If you can’t afford one, perhaps you shouldn’t have taken me home.
7. PLEASE DON’T PUNISH ME – Just as I don’t always understand your peculiarities, you may not understand mine. I don’t TRY to get into trouble—remember, a house is not the jungle. If I do screw up, don’t yell at me and never hit me. I have sensitive ears and I may never trust you again if you strike me. Hands are sometimes scary things to us. (Why in the world would you not be zygodactylous like us?) Even more importantly, we don’t learn by punishment. We are gentle creatures who only strike back to protect ourselves; we learn through patience and love.
8. SPEAK MY “LANGUAGE” – I know you get upset with me when I knock over my water bowl, throw food, scream, or pluck my feathers. I don’t do these things to annoy you. I am probably trying to tell you something ( perhaps that I am hurting, lonely, or sad). Learn to speak MY (body) language. Remember that I, alone of all creatures on this planet, learn to speak yours!
9. SEE ME AS AN INDIVIDUAL – I am a unique and feeling being. No two of us are alike. Please don’t be disappointed in me if I don’t talk like you wanted or can’t do the tricks that your friend’s parrot can do. But if you pay close attention to me (and I always empathize with you, whether you know), I will show you a unique being who will give you so much more than talking and playing. Give me a chance to show you who I am; I think you’ll find the effort worth it. And remember, I am not an ornament. I do not enhance ANY living room decor. And I am not a status symbol—if you use me as such, I might nip at your up-turned nose!
10. SHARE YOUR LOVE WITH ME – Above all, please remember that you are my Special Person. I put all my trust and faith in you. We parrots are used to being monogamous. (No bar-hopping for us!) So please don’t go away for long periods or give me away—that would be a sadness from which I may never recover. If that seems to be asking a lot, remember, you could have learned about my needs before bringing me home. Even having a baby or taking a new job isn’t a fair reason—you made a commitment to me FIRST. And if you think that you must leave me because you might die, provide for me forever after you leave. I may live to a ripe old age, but I can’t provide for myself. Remember I’m in a small cage amongst people who are not of my blood.
11. YOUR RIGHTS – You have lots of rights, but I can only assure one. And that is, if you treat me the way I described above, I will reward you with unwavering love, humor, knowledge, beauty, dedication, and a sense of wonder and awe you haven’t felt since you were a child. When you took me home, you became my Flock Leader, indeed, my entire universe—for life. I would hang the moon and stars for you if I could. We are one in Heart and Soul.

AUTHORITIES have reportedly rescued 1500 parakeets from a two-room apartment in Berlin.

Berlin veterinarian Margit Platzer says the birds were flying freely around the apartment, which was “littered with faeces, feathers and left-over food”, Associated Press has reported.

Ms Platzer says it took her team more than seven hours to catch all the birds.

The birds have been taken to animal shelters in Berlin and elsewhere because there was not enough room for them at facilities in the capital.

The owner gradually bought and bred the birds until his apartment was full, and that neighbours had complained about the noise and smell, Associated Press has reported.

The retired man has not been identified.

Across the other side of the globe, parakeets are also making headlines with the birds brightening up Britain’s dreary winter skies, in their thousands.

But the ring-necked parakeets are proving a pest for farmers, damaging fruit crops.

Seasonal traders, farmers, and orchard and vineyard owners have been watching on with frustration as the colourful birds gorge themselves on fruit and festive berries before Christmas.

Parks and gardens in leafy London suburbs are also being adopted as a preferred habitat by the birds that are native to southern Asia.

The rate of increase, helped by mild winters, is much greater than had been expected.