Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Animal Stories from Down Under

Not so good news in the animal kingdom this week. First, eight "exotic" monkeys were stolen from a zoo in Sydney. And latest news today, some drunken birds just fall off the sky somewhere near Darwin. Hmmm....natural catastrophe or man-made? Nope, no cats were involved, accused or found guilty. Both news items taken from Channel 7 News website.

Story 1: The Monkeys
Members of the public are being asked to help find eight endangered monkeys which were stolen from a wildlife park south of Sydney at the weekend.
Worried staff at the Symbio Wildlife Park at Helensburgh have set up a Facebook page appealing for the return of the breeding pair of cotton top tamarins, their two six month old babies, and four pygmy marmosets.
The staff say the animals are crucial to an international breeding program and need specialist care to survive.
It is believed there are only 300 cotton top tamarins left in the wild.
Detectives say thieves gained access to the monkey's enclosure at the park on Sunday night.
Inspector Brian Wyver of the Wollongong Local Area Command says staff discovered the monkeys missing when they arrived on Monday morning.
"They have returned and found the rear door of the enclosure had been forced," he said.
The owner of the wildlife park John Radnidge says the thieves appeared to have used bolt cutters, then took out the power and captured the monkeys with nets.
"These people were obviously aware as to what they needed to do and what they needed to bring," he said.
Mr Radnidge says the eight animals combined are so small they could fit in a shoe box.
It is the second time in a fortnight rare animals have been pinched from their enclosures.

Small and cute tamarin.

Keepers at Sydney's Taronga Zoo discovered on May 20 that two green-winged macaws had been stolen.
Police are investigating whether that crime is linked to the theft of another pair of macaws from a house in Sydney three months earlier.
Anyone with information about the thefts can contact police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Story 2: The Birds
Hundreds of seemingly drunk parrots are falling out of trees and the sky in a northern Australian town, mystifying veterinary surgeons who are struggling to care for them.
The brightly coloured lorikeets are showing classic signs of drunkenness by losing all coordination and passing out, and then cowering in cages as they recover from their "hangovers".
"They definitely seem like they're drunk," said Lisa Hansen, a veterinary surgeon at the Ark Animal Hospital in Palmerston, near Darwin.
"They fall out of trees... and they're not so coordinated as they would normally be. They go to jump and they miss the next perch."

The lorikeet did it.

Hansen said nobody was sure what was causing the symptoms, although it may be a plant they are eating. Other theories include an outbreak of a mystery virus.
She said the hospital, which is seeking donations, was caring for about 30 birds at a time with eight arriving each day after being scooped up from lawns and roadsides.
The birds are given sweetened porridge and fresh fruit -- the avian version of hangover food.
"It's probably the equivalent of ice-cream and cans of coke for the lorikeets," Hansen told AFP on Wednesday.
"They sit on the floor of the cage and rest their heads on the side, or they curl up in the corner and hide under the paper and block the rest of the world out."
Hansen said "drunk" lorikeets have been seen in Palmerston previously but never in such numbers, adding that the birds can die without proper care.

Angelina's note: My heart goes out to those gorgeous creatures. purrr....meow!

24 comments:

Wan Sharif said...

Dear Angelina,
My fear is that the theft of the monkeys was at the request of person/s dealing in exotic animals. Another example of human transgression in satisfying their greed.
As for the "drunken" birds, the likely clue is the food or foods that they have consumed.. but we can not have cats investigate the matter, due to some other reasons..Non?!..
Have an great days aheads..
Salam Ayah Wan

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear Uncle Wan,
What's sad is some of those monkeys are still babies...what if they die? Am so sad today that I'm not going to eat any bird for dinner tonight. Even if it's those delectable thigh fillets. So the birds would have no need to fear Chief Detective Angelina. purrrr.....meow!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Kitties-in-Sydney,
I can never condone animal theft or smuggling. Animals are sentient, dignified individuals with their own needs and social circles. It is patronising and wrong of humans to trade in animals as though they were inanimate lumps.

In Bryan Christy's docu-novel, "The Lizard King", there was a wildlife smuggler who hid a pygmy marmoset in his hair.

It must be either a very tiny monkey or that man must have really big hair.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
Those monkeys that were stolen - tamarins and marmosets - are really tiny. All eight of them can fit into one shoe box! I curse those thieves with a million barrels of cat wee. My Mama says it's unladylike to curse but in this case I think she won't scold me. Oh, are you aware of the latest craze in sugar gliders in KL? It's shocking! Some people may have smuggled them out of Australia. purrr....meow!

Pi Bani said...

Hmmm... P.I. Pi nak investigate jauh sangatlah. But I'm wondering about the security system at the zoo. No jaga ka?

p/s
I wonder how a drunk cat would behave...

Monyet King said...

As I told you earlier, the missing monkeys are loitering in and around the Malaysian parliament.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pi,
Apparently the power was cut off so alarm system was neutralised. Not sure about the "jaga" though, could be inside job too. How do drunken cats behave? One answer: like Brad - most of the times. purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

O Wise One,
Yes. You told me earlier. And we really really fear for them as that's a very nasty and dangerous place to be. purrr....meow!

Zendra-Maria said...

My dear Cat, I don't like to visit zoos or aquaria as I hate to see animals in captivity but if they are endangered that's OK, but prefer them to be in protected in their natural habitat. That said, I hate to see domestic animals being left in the wild but then they should be fed raw food more often then not. Anyways was that off topic? haha... just thinking, blardy lucky them parrots can't drive ainit?

kay_leeda said...

It the supply and demand thing. These poor monkeys for all you know are already half way across the ocean waiting to change hands to the highest bidder. Bad...bad....

Better beef up on safe@home Angie. Perhaps it's best to ask Mama hv those detector microchips on you guys.

tireless mom said...

The birds were given sweet porridge and fruits? If they were given the delicious tapai pulut which I usually make, do you think they will get drunk too?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Zendra,
We don't like to see animals in captivity too. But in the case of these cutesy monkeys, they are there on a breeding programme - only 300 of them left in the wild, you know.... The zoo where they were (before they were abducted) is actually a research centre but instead of keeping them in laboratories, they're kept in zoo-like enclosures. Those lorikeets? Me not going to allow them to come anywhere near my Mama's car. purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Kay,
The good news is the cops have found seven of the eight monkeys - three dumped in a cage in a park, four left at a vet's clinic. Bad news is - one is still missing. Perhaps the buyer chickened out when he realises that the theft has attracted a lot of attention. Wait till I get my claws and fangs on them. purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ellen Whyte said...

I hope those parrots are drunk and not suffering from some virus AND that you get your cotton tops back. i used to study those in Stirling, way back when. They were trained to go back to the jungle, but when we got there, the cartels had taken over and were NOT willing to have these little monkeys on their land - so they were taken to the USA and dispersed to various places from there. Sad. It took us ages to teach them to survive in the wild.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Yatt,
The porridge and fruits are to cure the hangover, not to aggravate it. I think if we feed them your tapai pulut, the parrots will start talking in "nogori", eh? purrr....meow!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Au and Target,
Purrr....we're happy the police have found three of the tamarins and all of the marmosets. One is still missing though. As for those birds...hmmmm...we haven't got a clue. So, your mom was at Stirling, eh? We could have been neighbours then... At one point, my Mama wanted to go there to study publishing but halfway through changed her mind and opted for somewhere else. purrr...meow!

Pat said...

Hello dearie!

Like your pal Zendra, I too don't like visiting zoos. I feel horrid for the animals - away from their natural habitat, and having idiots gaping and gawking at them!

And I despise even more those that think it is 'cute' to keep exotic pets. Most times, they end up abandoning them, because they are wild creatures and are ... wild! So, no taming them!

And those drunken parrots? That's too funny! I hope it's not a virus, though. Maybe it's over-ripe fruit that had started fermenting?! Yumms! Hahahahah! Yah lah, me bad :(

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Pat,
Why can't people just stick to having cats and dogs as pets? My Mama said she was shocked to see some family members having sugar gliders as pets. They seem to think that those gorgeous creatures are just another hamster, albeit more upmarket. And if it dies, they'll just buy another one. So cruel and heartless. Sorry...Angelina raving and ranting today.
Oh, them parrots? Poor things...we hope they'll be back to normal soon. purrr....meow!

TK said...

Hi Cat..the Tamarin is so cute. Ive been to Australia before but I have never seen the Tamarin. Australia has lots of weird looking animals which you canot find in other parts of the world. BTW, I love hugging the wombat. Bantal peluk yg montok!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

TK Sensei,
Bantal peluk yang montok tapi busyuk!!!! Didn't you try hugging the koala? purrrr....meow!

Unknown said...

..takes a monkey to steal a monkey..:) as for the birds..its known fact that birds somehow synchronise their flight by using earth magnetic field..maybe it is out of sync where it happened..stuff for x-files and Maulder..

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dear Abe Mat,
You're quite right. We shall have a new series of X-Files Australia. har har har *evil laughs*

Lee said...

Hi Cat, hmmmm, missing monkeys, drunk parrots.
I guess thats causing some excitement where you are.
What about any Joeys running loose?
I think someone must have made the birds drunk with Fosters, ha ha. G'day mate, Lee.