In 2010, Bulgarian airport authorities confiscated 108 African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) from a smuggler. Last month, the 28 parrots who survived the stress of being stuffed into dog kennels, constantly handled by humans, and the absence of their native habitat, completed their three-year journey to freedom.

 

The journey began late one afternoon in 2010, Sophia Zoo employees were called to Sophia Airport, Bulgaria's largest, to take the parrots back to the zoo's animal rescue center.

 

African grey parrots are particularly desired by illegal wildlife traders because they are highly intelligent—with the ability to mimic human voices and other sounds quickly—have longer-than-normal lifespans, and are easily tamed. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List.

 

These parrots had been wild-caught from somewhere in Africa and transported via Lebanon to Bulgaria, without legal documentation. While Sophia Zoo quarantined them, assessing the disease risk of letting the parrots live near other animals in the zoo, more than half died from the stress of constant handling.

 

The World Parrot Trust spent the time and resources the zoo could not, organizing a journey for the birds from Sophia Zoo to a Ugandan wildlife sanctuary in the native habitat zone for African grey parrots.

 

At a release ceremony on July 10, renowned conservationist Jane Goodall pulled the string to release the grey parrots strong enough to fly into Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary—17 of the 108 confiscated three years prior. The sanctuary continues to rehabilitate eleven other parrots that made the trip to from Bulgaria to Uganda, hoping that one day they will also be strong enough to fly off to the trees.