New Year Not Off to a Good Start for Amazon Parrots
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While hope and optimism have struck a chord with humans for the New Year, it couldn’t have started off worse for Amazon parrots. The extremely rare Brazilian species is part of a recovery project at a wildlife conservation center in Florida which is attempting to help save the species and reintroduce the birds back into their natural habitat. However, what the conservation center employees saw on New Year’s Day was a big step back.
Spooked by New Year’s Eve fireworks, one of the male parrots thrashed himself to death. When the catastrophe was discovered, the parrot had severe head and face injuries from which he ultimately died. The director of the conservation center said, “We’re doing everything we can to save these species and the lack of enforcement on fireworks regulations is basically undoing our best efforts.”
Unfortunately, this reaction to fireworks is not uncommon by any means. Animals’ hearing is much more sensitive than ours, and they often panic at the confusing and frightening experience. Many holidays end in tragedy for dogs, cats, birds, and other animals as they attempt to flee and end up hurting themselves.
The conservation center director said, “This guy could have lived to be 50 or 60 years old and could have produced a generation of wildlife. The tragedy is that this animal’s life is sacrificed for absolutely no reason.”
And right he is. The holidays don’t have to end in disasters like this one. There are many alternatives to fireworks, such as laser and light shows, which are affordable and much safer while still providing the grand experience for humans. We are sending a letter to the mayor of this Florida city asking for stricter fireworks enforcement and a letter to the conservancy about how to keep their animals safer during these situations.
To find out more and to learn ways to comfort your animal companion if he or she panics during fireworks, click here.
Written by Christine Doré
