Yet Another Escape

The Australian animal confinement facility where they keep all the worst detainees of the Animal Uprising™ has had yet another escape. (For some reason, the Aussies like to call this prison the "Adelaide Zoo", but we here at Blue Crab Boulevard know all the euphemisms by now.) After the February, 2004 escape by the squirrel monkey and this past April's breakout involving Wanda, the baby meerkat (a stone cold killer that one), they promised much tighter security. But yesterday, the great escapes continued. This time it was the brains of the outfit. The two African grey parrots busted out.

THEY came under the cover of darkness, silently cutting the wire fence and searching for their prey. Within the hour, staff were alerted, but too late. Adelaide Zoo's prized pair of African grey parrots was gone.

The birds, worth tens of thousands of dollars, were stolen between midnight and 1am yesterday.

Zoo officials expressed fear that the thieves would try to sell the parrots interstate or overseas.

"It's likely that they were stolen for their dollar value and their relative rarity," said Kevin Evans, director of the zoo's conservation programs.

"I think these African grey parrots were specifically targeted … because they're in a quiet location in the zoo grounds, and there were many other species around of value that they could have pinched.

"I would say that they (the thieves) knew what they were doing."

Often referred to as the brainiest of birds, African grey parrots can live to about 60 years and learn hundreds of words. Originally from central Africa, they are commonly kept as pets overseas but number only a few hundred in Australia.

They keep up the charade that someone stole them to avoid panicking the populace, of course. Now that they are on the loose, Australia's supply of crackers is in serious danger.