Man fighting to have service parrot recognized

James EggersSt. Louis, MO (KSDK) - A TV crew from Animal Planet follows James Eggers through his daily routine. And it's all because of what's in his backpack - a parrot named "Sadie."



James EggersSt. Louis, MO (KSDK) - A TV crew from Animal Planet follows James Eggers through his daily routine. And it's all because of what's in his backpack - a parrot named "Sadie."
Photo by Tom MacKenzie, USFWS - Puerto Rican parrot pictured inside a fly cage at El Yunque National Forest protected habitat in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. The parrots are one of about 34 Amazon parrots' species found in the Americas. They are known for the bright red shock of feathers at their forehead, white rings around their eyes and the shimmering blue feathers under their wings. The Puerto Rican parrot has hovered at the edge of extinction for decades but is now making a bit of a comeback.
Deep amid the dense greenery of a rain forest, down an unmarked road, behind a barbed wire fence in a low-slung compound monitored by security cameras, government scientists are nursing a special patient back to health.
ENDANGERED: Western ground parrots are being driven to extinction by feral cats.
June 2011: A feral cat control trial in Western Australia's south coast national parks has shown baiting could prove effective in reducing feral cat populations in temperate regions.