After delivering Coco to the World Parrot Refuge and touring their 10,000 sq. ft. facility (flight rooms, bird hospital (where the "special birds" live) and gift shop, Lacey and I said good bye to Wendy and the crew and drove back to Victoria. After a really nice seafood lunch we loaded our car back onto the ferry and headed back to the states. I was - to say the least - exceedingly pleased to be leaving Coco in another country.
Still, I have to admit that I was touched by the incredible empathy and gentleness that the World Parrot Refuge crew took with the hundreds of birds there. I plan to write a feature piece on the facility to highlight some of the really important issues Wendy explained to me regarding the exotic bird trade. Most of the birds find their way to Wendy's care after their owners lose interest or the birds grow so aggressive or annoying that no one wants them or their mess anymore. The lucky ones end up with Wendy and her crew. The unlucky ones get passed around from home to home, and many die from poor care and undernourishment. Worse still, there are the VERY unfortunate birds who get snapped up by unscrupulous commercial breeders. These birds basically get bred to death, and most eventually die from pure exhaustion and poor health.
That wasn't going to happen to Coco. As we left one of Wendy's assistants had rolled over a cage next to Coco with another huge blue and gold macaw. Coco and her new friend would soon form the beginning of a new macaw flock.
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