Newsletter / Blog
2011-05-08 Cape Parrots falling out the skies in King William's Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Over the last two weeks five dying Cape
Parrots have been handed in to the SPCA King William's Town or directly
to staff of the Cape Parrot Project.
SPCA workers say that they suspect that double the number
of Cape Parrots are not being reported.
Most people see a Cape Parrot and think
that they can rehabilitate it and have it saying: "Polly" in a few days -
these
parrots always die and need specialist care says Dr. Steve Boyes,
trustee of Wild Bird Trust and Director of Wild Parrot Trust Africa
As
a result a message was sent out within the conservation networks, asking people
to submit photos and reports of Cape Parrots in poor condition.
"What followed
turned my stomach", says Boyes. Within two weeks we had 30 reports and shocking photos of
dead and dying Cape Parrots in King William's Town, Stutterheim, and Alice, all
with signs of advanced PBFD infection.
"The Cape Parrot is our "national parrot" and is dependent on our national
tree, the yellowwood for its survival. We are at risk of losing our only endemic
parrot to disease and malnutrition within the next 5-10 years if we do not act
right now to fix this situation. Our Cape Parrots are struggling to fit into the
new landscape we have engineered for them, almost behaving like feral parrots
would when released into a new area. They are intelligent, sentient beings that
are designed to solve problems and share information with each other. |