Exotic birds fall prey to foreclosure crisis

Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) Photo: City parrots

Real estate agent Jeffrey Dolfinger was making a routine occupancy check on a foreclosed home near Poughkeepsie, New York, when he made a heart-wrenching discovery: two bedraggled cockatiels nearly starved to death.

"We had entered into this wreck of a house, opened the door, where there sat two cockatiels with about a six-inch-high pile of bird feces under them," Dolfinger said. "I'm not a bird person, but I knew a bird is not supposed to look this way."

Despite terrible bird allergies, Dolfinger gathered them up and brought them to a pet store specializing in birds. A woman at the store nursed them back to health.

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Huge fine imposed for illegal tree clearing

Black cockatoo in Melbourne Zoo Photo: Tim Williams

A South East landholder will have to cough up $119,000 for destroying native trees which provide critical habitat to bird species such as the endangered Red-tailed Black Cockatoo.

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Nearly 500 wild animals seized in downtown Lima

Peruvian officials raided an old building in downtown Lima where 478 wild animals were held in unsanitary conditions without food and water. Officials believe the animals were being held to be sold in the black market.

Among the animals confiscated were 434 canary-winged parakeets, seven yellow-footed tortoises, four monkeys, a blue-and-yellow macaw, 17 black-headed parrots, four red-fronted parrots, five white-eyed parakeets, four grey-cheeked parakeets and a green parakeet.

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Kakapo dies after operation – But large breeding season in prospect

Lee the kakapo. Photo: Auckland Zoo.

After being successfully treated for lead poisoning at Auckland Zoo, Lee, a male kakapo died following a three-hour emergency operation.

A post-mortem examination has confirmed that Lee died from a small tear in the side of his crop - the sac-like part of the bird's digestive system where food is stored before it enters the stomach. This tear caused food to escape into the surrounding tissues, resulting in severe inflammation. Vets also discovered several areas of thinning in the crop wall, which they say could have predisposed Lee, an older bird of unknown age, to this type of injury.

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Protection for endangered species

Carnaby's black-cockatoo. Image by Ralph GreenENVIRONMENTAL scientists have moved in to protect the endangered Carnaby black cockatoo as upgrading work takes place on sections of the Great Northern Highway between Muchea and Bindi Bindi.

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