Published 09:21 IST, October 2nd 2020
'Bad influence': Five parrots separated for encouraging each other to swear at visitors
UK zoo officials separated the filthy-mouthed gray parrots from the rest of the lot after they were seen encouraging other birds to swear, said keepers.
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People have been long-taught how ‘one bad fish spoils whole pond’ meaning the surroundings of such animal or a bad apple also get ruined. However, a unique incident at a British zoo set a perfect example for the saying, only that it involved five foul-mouthed parrots. The zoo officials decided to separate the filthy-mouthed gray parrots from the rest of the lot after they were seen encouraging other birds to swear, said the keepers as reported by Associated Press.
Billy, Eric, Tyson, Jade and Elsie had joined Lincolnshire Wildlife Centre’s colony of 200 gray parrots in August, but soon exposed their liking for the ‘blue language’. Zoo’s chief executive Steve Nichols even said that they are used to the parrots swearing but “never” had to handle five of them altogether. And since they were found relishing it, the officials had to separate them.
“We are quite used to parrots swearing, but we’ve never had five at the same time,” said the zoo’s chief executive, Steve Nichols. “Most parrots clam up outside, but for some reason these five relish it.”
Visitors found it funny
Even though the keepers were concerned, as per reports, the zoo visitors found the five foul-mouthed parrots hilarious. Nichols reportedly even said that none of the visitors complained and amused people “very highly”. Amid the year filled with COVID-19 pandemic, months-long lockdowns, climate crisis and demonstrations and whatnot, Nichols said that the parrots had brought a smile on people’s faces during a “really hard year”. However, the birds were separated to protect the children, who visit the zoo, from hearing the swears.
“When a parrot tells you to ‘f-— off’ it amuses people very highly,” he said. “It’s brought a big smile to a really hard year.”
Apart from swearing, another parrot recently became an internet celebrity for interrupting football practise match. On September 20, Brazilian footballer Bruna Benites took to her social media handle and shared a video, in which a parrot interrupted her practice session as it landed on her head. In the video, a parrot is seen resting on the football player's head while the player waited for the parrot to fly away. Later, a man entered the screen and helped the player. Instagramming the video, Bruna wrote a caption in Portuguese which can be translated as, "I could not help expressing my feeling of deep sadness for everything that has been happening in the Pantanal. Thousands of animals are losing their lives in the fires and if this continues to happen, scenes (rare) like the one you are seeing in this video, will become impossible to see. Let us be aware! Let's take care of our greatest asset, which is nature!"
(With AP inputs)
09:21 IST, October 2nd 2020