Recently authorities in Cameroon Africa intercepted more than 1,000 endangered African Grey parrots captured in the wild and destined for the international pet trade.
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Captured in nets and stuffed into tiny crates, the terrified birds were deprived of food and water and forced to stand in their own waste.
The shipment was scheduled to be loaded on to Ethiopian Airlines and was destined for the Middle East, from where the birds may have been destined for shipment abroad.
This is the third major bust of African Grey parrots in Cameroon the past two years. Thankfully, instead of being laundered back into the pet trade the birds have been handed over to our friends at the Limbe Wildlife Center, where they can be rehabilitated and eventually released back into the wild.
However, having just received over 300 confiscated African Grey parrots in November, the facility is scrambling to provide for these 1,000 new arrivals many of whom are injured or ill due to the brutal capture methods and stressful conditions they have endured. In fact, 47 parrots were found dead at the bottom of the crates upon arrival, and another 30 did not survive the first day.
“It is crazy,” said Limbe manager Simone de Vries. “It makes you sick to see how the parrots are packed in the boxes, the weaker ones trampled by the strongest.”
In 2008, Born Free USA members helped raise $2,000 for the Limbe Wildlife Center to rehabilitate and release 1,200 captured African Grey parrots back into the wild.
Funding is urgently needed to provide emergency care to rehabilitate these battered and abused parrots so that they too will fly free again.
You can be a part of this vital effort! Born Free USA needs to immediately raise a minimum $2,000 to aid this life-saving endeavor. If just 100 caring individuals donated $20 each today, we will reach our goal. Won’t you be one of the first compassionate people to make a difference for these birds as well as others that we work to protect? Please donate now.
For the birds,
Monica