News
Andhra Pradesh: On the trail of parrot poachers!
May 14, 2009, 2:20AM MT
By Sharon St. Joan
Rescuing parrots from "fortune tellers"
Rescuing parrots from "fortune tellers"
On Sunday, May 3, a team of five from Visakha SPCA, traveled along the beaches north of the city, Visakhapatnam, (on the east coast of India). Their mission was to track down and catch "fortune tellers."
You might wonder, what could be so terrible about a little fortune telling? Well, these "fortune tellers" don't just tell your fortune--they keep parrots captive in tiny cages, so that they lead unhappy lives.
Instead of flying free among the trees, the parrots must live a life of servitude. The parrot's job is to pick out the cards--for their master who tells the fortune. This adds some sort of authenticity, or something, to the reading.
The parrots in India are beautiful long-tailed, rose-ringed parakeets (not budgies, also beautiful, who are different birds that are often called "parakeets" incorrectly).
They breed in the tall palms. Pradeep Nath, the President of Visakha SPCA, writes, "Yes, the birds are taken away from the trees when they are just born or a few days old. The parrots are not exactly in the real wild forests, but they are now plentiful in rural and semi-rural areas. Now-a-days, with their original habitat shrinking--the parrots are able to survive in these rural areas.
Parrots are born in the coconut trees
"There are people who are expert in climbing the tall coconut trees and palm trees, and they know how to find these hatchlings. They often stuff the hatchlings into boxes and sell them in the market. These parrots, when quite young, are purchased from the climbers, and then they are trained by dealers.
"After suitable training, the parrots are again sold to the eventual "astrologers"--or "fortune tellers". They end up having to spend their whole lives in captivity--unless, that is, they have the truly good fortune to be caught by the Visakha SPCA team!
Lalam Raju, Pyla Prasad, Patju Virender, Alludu Ramu, and Suribabu carried out the raid on May 3. The Visakha SPCA has been conducting raids all along the beaches near Visakhapatnam and also in markets further inland.
They've been carrying out these raids for eleven years--and over time the culprits have learned to spot the teams and take off running when they see them. So, it's not always the same team, the people change; often they go in unmarked cars. Even so, sometimes they can be spotted, and the "fortune teller' will suddenly dash off. They hide the parrot cage, with the parrot, inside a bag, but the bag is so bulky that the bag itself is a give-a-way.
Chasing the fortune tellers!
Often, a chase ensues and the team members take off in hot pursuit of the "fortune tellers." They dash through the market or along the beach. Sometimes the "fortune teller" will drop the bag as they go, so the parrot can be rescued in that way.
The modus operandi of the team is to be as swift as they can in pursuing the criminals. They've learned from experience that if they are slow--or if they hesitate, that gives the "fortune tellers" time to gather a crowd and appeal to the crowd for sympathy.
On their raid on this particular Sunday, they stopped five "fortune tellers' and rescued five parrots. The parrots are back at Visakha SPCA, which has a beautiful setup of aviaries, to care for the birds.
After rehabilitation to ensure that they can survive upon release, they will be set free to live out their natural lives. The area near the Visakha SPCA is a safe environment where the birds can have their freedom, while at the same time returning for food or companionship for as long as they need to.
The parrots are wild birds of India, and as such, they are protected by the Indian Wildlife Act, as well as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
Although the "fortune tellers' are violating the law, the Visakha SPCA has found it more effective not to take law enforcement officers with them to make arrests. The legal penalty is just a slap on the wrist.
The "fortune tellers" generally run, and they are not usually aggressive, so the team members focus on confiscating the parrot, the cage and the cards! With their wildlife permit, Visakha SPCA has the legal right to do this.
Educating people too!
Along with chasing the "fortune tellers" goes another part of the program, which is educating people in the market places about the harm that is being done to the parrots. It's important also to reach children in the rural schools in order to stop the pet shops from selling these parrots.
During years of perseverance, pursuing these people who are abusing the parrots, Pradeep says they've seen a really big change.
They used to see baskets full of baby parrots being sold in the market place out in the open. Now there are just a few "astrologers" or "fortune tellers", who try to stay out of sight and who are farther afield now--more on the outskirts, away from the city, than they used to be.
The Visakha SPCA has had tremendous success using these methods to shut down completely other forms of abuse--notably, the use of snakes in religious rites, which is no longer happening in Visakhapatnam.
The five parrots confiscated on May 3 are doing really well and are expected to be releasable!
Pradeep told us, "When the team returned from the raid at 7PM to my office they were pretty excited and happy at rescuing these birds. In fact, all our 60 employees themselves catch and bring a parrot from these 'astrologers' whenever and wherever they see them."
He expects next to target parrots being sold in pet stores, and has plans to begin catching the tree climbers who are poaching the hatchlings.
How you can help
To learn more about the many activities of Visakha SPCA, please go to
http://vspca.org
This story was posted by Sharon St. Joan, Best Friends Network.
Photos: Visakha SPCA