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Massive Confiscation of 300 African Grey Parrots
November 29, 2009 (Cameroon) - Limbe Wildlife Centre

*(Editors Note: The World Parrot Trust has sent emergency funding to the Limbe Wildlife Center to aid these parrots.)

Yesterday hundreds of parrots were rescued and transferred to the Limbe Wildlife Centre (LWC). They were confiscated at the Douala Airport, where they were kept prior to shipment out of the country. The illegal animal dealer has fled. The parrots were sitting in 10 crates, covered with lice, without food or water. By the time they arrived in the LWC, 7 animals were dead and 4 more died soon after arrival.

Fortunately we had space in the quarantine, so we quickly prepared an enclosure for them. Our carpenter rushed to the market to get perches and find saw dust for on the floor. Some others went to buy corn, casava, peanuts and palmnuts in order to prepare the food. In no time the ape quarantine enclosure was changed into a flight cage for parrots. The parrots were off loaded and less then 2 hours after arrival they were comfortably settling down in their new temporary home.

 

This makes me very angry with the people who do this. On the other hand, I want to focus on all those parrots whose lives are now saved. They will get all the care they need and most of them will be released back into the wild. From earlier experience I know that we will have months ahead of us with a lot of extra work, but that is okay. The Limbe Wildlife Centre has a bunch of great animal keepers, who will do everything to rehabilitate these parrots and let them fly in the forest again. We will keep you informed about the developments.

Update: Dec 2, 2009
It is really great that so many people are showing their concern and offering their help for the confiscated parrots. We have decided to give them a little bit more time to settle in before we start counting and treating them. In the first days 29 birds have died, but we hope that we have had the worst part now. Most parrots seem to be in a relatively good condition, so hopefully a lot of them will be released soon.

Best wishes,

Simone de Vries
Manager, Limbe Wildlife Center

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