Rare Parrot hatched

[Wolf]

There was a ST Vincent Parrot hatched at the Houston zoo and I thought you might be interested
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/29769 ... are-parrot

[Pajarita]

But I wonder why they are handraising him, what's the need for it? He won't be a pet so he doesn't need to imprint to humans and it's always SOOOO much better for them to be raised by their own parents it seems completely counterproductive...

[Chantilly]

Wow! so pretty! I agree it does seem pretty weird that they would handrear it,

[liz]

every zoo I know of except the nc zoo does this. if they help them trust humans then they can give better care. I don't agree with this. they should be working with the whole flock. like my cockatiels, if the parent feels trust they will instill the trust in their babies.

the nc zoo has to put their animals to sleep for exams and care. many have died.

I don't remember what zoo it was but I saw them trim a hippo's teeth. they trimed one and gave him a treat and break between teeth. he knew the routine and when he was ready he put his face between the bars to trim another. he may not ave understood what was going on but trusted
the care giver to do what he needed.

[Pajarita]

People think of zookeepers as people who love animals and of zoos as good places for them but they could not be farther from the truth. Zoo curators/directors are business people who make their decisions based on the bottom line. Period. The welfare of the animals is secondary to profit. And that's why you have zoos artificially inseminating animals right and left so they would have babies, which ALWAYS attract crowds (read: more revenue!) just to put them down when they become adults (supposedly because they don't want them to inbreed) and feed them to the carnivores. What people see in the zoo is not what goes on 'behind the scenes'...