COIMBATORE:In a three-day drive, personnel from the Forest Department and Animal Rescuers an NGO, rescued 24 rose-ringed parakeets from 12 locations in and around the city.
The birds were rescued from places like Velandipalayam, Seeranayakanpalayam, Thondamuthur, Sundapalayam, Ramanathapuram and Neelikonampalayam.
The rescued parakeets include 12 females, eight males and four juveniles. While the wings (primary flight feathers) of 16 birds were clipped, 11 did not have tail feathers. The beaks of six birds were clipped. In the case of three birds, the wings, tail feathers, beaks and claws were clipped.
In the wild, the parakeets eat grains, fruits, nuts, flowers, etc, but the owners, fed them mainly rice, vada, idly, dosa, snacks, milk, etc., without regard to their foraging habits. Normally parakeets fly 40-50 km per day to forage, said L Joseph Reginald, an Animal Rescuers volunteer.
“They were kept in a very cruel way in 1-cu-ft cages. A bird cannot move normally in them or even spread its wings. The owners do not even understand that they were subjecting the birds to cruelty,” he added.
All the 12 species of parakeets found in India are protected under Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, but very often, they are caught and caged and treated as pets.
More than 500 parakeets have been rescued and rehabilitated between 2012 and 2015.