Over 180 parrots registered in DoE amnesty

| 16/01/2020 | 29 Comments
Cayman News Service
Grand Cayman parrots (Photo courtesy Cayman Turtle Centre)

(CNS): More than 180 parrots were registered during the Department of Environment ongoing amnesty but DoE officials believe there are many more in people’s homes. The department is urging people who have any in captivity to come clean and register them so they will be allowed to keep their pet parrots in future. The amnesty, which is open until the end of February, offers owners the chance to avoid potential prosecution from 1 March for keeping the parrots caged.

Officials from the DoE are happy with the response to the amnesty so far, as most people seem keen to do the right thing and get a health assessment for their birds, which is part of the registration process. The main problem researchers have found is that the pet parrots are a little too portly because many are overfed and expend no energy getting that food.

No parrots have been or will be seized under the amnesty, as the aim is to give people the chance to legally keep their birds and to give them advice on how best to take care of them. It will also allow the DoE to count the number of birds in captivity and help them with the necessary research to protect the dwindling and increasingly threatened wild population from further poaching.

Originally listed as a game bird, the Cayman parrot was given full protection under the Animals (Protection) Regulations, 1989.

Members of the public who have either Grand Cayman or Cayman Brac parrots are asked to contact the DoE at 949-8469 or email doe@gov.ky.

For more information visit the DoE website.


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Category: Land Habitat, Science & Nature

Comments (29)

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  1. Cayman parrot counter says:

    DOE missed the two biggest species of Cayman Parrots left Alden and Mckeeva so its actually 182

  2. Anonymous says:

    God made the beautiful parrots. Please leave them alone.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Stop killing sentient beings.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    The chickens are free range. Why not eat them?

    • Anonymous says:

      Grand Cayman needs a private chicken relocation service. The DoA chicken wrangling budget was canceled, leaving an ever-widening service void, but I’m told they still sell traps for $85. There is a gold mine waiting for any Caymanian with an operable truck, hammer, nails, and some initiative. Call the condo Stratas and property management companies and sign them up for 5 years worth of front-loaded, paid-up contract retainers. We have chickens waltzing through the airport as a first impression of an island that doesn’t seem to care about basic hygiene.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Because any strata is going to pay out an upfront retainer for 5 years future service from a brand new start up.

    • Anonymous says:

      You’re better off eating iguana, they don’t dig through trash and eat garbage. Oh wait, the gov murdered all of em.

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      • Anonymous says:

        They destroy the fauna. You are manifesting your reptilian, left wing brain.

        • Anonymous says:

          Humans are wayyy more responsible for the destruction of fauna and pretty much anything around here deemed natural. You wanna play this game? I suppose you all like minded thinkers will blame parrot fish for the drop in coral and kill them out too? You reeeeeee

  5. Anonymous says:

    They do make a good stew. Parrot Farm?

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  6. Cheese Face says:

    Cat & Chicken #s in the Prospect area are beyond a joke. Road kill city and I see nothing being done.

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    • Opinionated says:

      And when you suggest culling the feral cat population it is met with angry people who believe it is too ,ean or inhumane. Having wild cats running around hungry and suffering from diseases is more inhuman.

      PLEASE neuter and spay your pets!

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  7. Anonymous says:

    I hope that the captive birds can be used to develop a captive breeding program to help grow the wild population.

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    • Anonymous says:

      7:59 Unfortunately not always as easy as it seems. The last thing this island needs is potential inbreeding in the population. Unfortunately when nests are raided to catch these parrots for the pet trade they are often sold together, you dont want a brother and sister pair breeding for obvious reasons. Captive breeding has to been done very carefully and allot of research needs o be done into the genetic makeup of the bird. Ideally you want a diverse genetic pool of these parrots but your average bird owner doesn’t have the resources and knowledge to do this. Currently the only place captive breeding them is the turtle farm.

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      • Anonymous says:

        All I am suggesting is that the captive birds be given an opportunity to contribute to that gene pool. A long weekend with some mood music and candlelight at the turtle farm (following genetic tests) should do the trick.

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        • Anonymous says:

          9:43 I’m not disagreeing with you regarding breeding genetically sound birds. Alas these guys are pretty picky when it comes to “the birds and the bees”. Wild birds only nest in dead and hollow royal palm trees so recreating a love pad for these parrots would be very tricky for your average bird owner. The best way we can help these guys repopulate is by not destroying their natural nesting/feeding habitat. And by not taking any more from the wild of course!

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  8. CYM national says:

    Free Them!!!

    Clipping their wings and caging them should be illegal !

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    • Anonymous says:

      11:54 It is illegal to catch them and clip their wings. The whole point of the amnesty is to make it easier to prosecute people in future found to own a parrot that wasn’t registered during the amnesty. Unfortunately many of them have been in captivity for so long that they would struggle to survive in he wild as they have become human dependent.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    For God’s sake. I have 14 chickens in my yard. This government is stupid.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Only 180? That’s nothing to squawk about.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Fortunately, parrots abound on Cayman Brac. What we are seeing less of are lizards and even some birds as feral cats have taken over. DoE, can’t something be done?

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      • Anonymous says:

        The cats should be culled for exactly the same reason the invasive iguanas have been culled! If someone wants to trap them and take care of them, then great, but otherwise the iguana cullers need to be redeployed to Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.

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        • Anonymous says:

          More feral cats than iguanas in Little Cayman.
          Let the cat lovers from GCM come and get them and take them back there.

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