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Where did you last see the bright-green Rose ringed parakeet? Cornered in a fortune-teller’s cage, or in your friend’s house, or flying away in the azure sky?
Although parakeets are not domestic birds, there are people who keep them as pets at home and others, such as the fortune tellers, who cage them for their livelihood. The birds are also greatly sought after for their ability to mimic sounds.
What is lost in all this is the bird’s right to a life in the wild. Under Schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife Act, keeping parakeets caged is a legal offence.
Fortune tellers ruthlessly clip the bird’s wings and tail to ensure they cannot fly away. While ‘pinioning’ is the surgical removal of the distal wing portion, the commonly used ‘wing clipping’ involves non-surgical removal of the primary (flight) feathers. The latter’s effect is temporary and the bird can fly again after the feathers re-grow within a year to 18 months.
Imprisoned in tiny cages, the bird cannot move around or even flap its wings, says a representative of Animal Rescuers, Coimbatore, an organisation working to save parakeets.
More danger is in store when second-hand cages are used, which may lead to the spread of communicable illness.
Parakeets are widely used in the fortune-telling business. In fact, during FIFA World Cup 2010, a Malaysian Rose ringed parakeet named Mani achieved fame after it assisted a Singapore astrologer in correctly predicting the winners five out of seven times.
When caged, these wild birds also lose innate abilities such as flocking, social interactions and foraging for food.
Their presence in the pet trade has seriously undermined conservation efforts.
Animal rescuers are studying the impact of human behaviour on the birds, including the changes in their habitat and diet. Usually, a parakeet rescued within a week or month in captivity is released immediately into the wild. However, those that have been in captivity longer may need to be housed in an appropriate aviary.
So, what should you do when you see a parakeet being traded? One, you can call forest department officials and inform them about the location of the trade, so they can act on it. Alternatively, you can call 100 and inform the police, who will in turn alert forest department authorities.
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