Why Is Wild Parrot Unethical

Natalie Mariano

English 110

2nd draft Parrots are social birds and have intellect abilities to learn to communicate and mimic human speech and sounds. Duke University claims parrots have “a shell structure” for a brain which explains why their able to learn to speak and do things like dance, figure out the differences between colors and shapes. Psychologist Dr. Irene Pepperberg studied years on an African gray parrot named Alex, she’s proven their able to learn numerical concepts. Pet parrots’ intelligence differ from wild parrots, mainly because of the environment they were raised. Parrots kept as pets become fully dependent on their owners, where as wild parrots learn to survive and adapt on their own. I strongly believe that taking and keeping wild parrots in captivity is unethical. Parrots are commonly known for pet keeping and their ability to mimic human words. Estimated over 20.6 million birds are kept as pets in the United States and a majority are parrots. There are over 350 species and some of the most common are cockatoos, macaws, cockatiels and the African gray parrot. At one point, I also had two pet birds

Being raised from birth, they become attached to their owners and will never learn what its like to be a wild bird. Whereas, wild parrots are fully capable to hunt for food, survive and adapt on their own, and will end up losing their skills as pets. Joanna Burger, biologist, is a proud owner of a parrot named Tiko, which she publishes a book titled The Parrot Who Owns Me inspired by Tiko. “He would never survive, unable to find food, unsure how to avoid predators” (51). In the book, Burger talks about Tiko becoming attached to her, resulting him in believing that Burger is his mate. In the wild, tiko would be able to live a lifespan of about 80 years, just like most wild