African Grey Parrot Articles

IT should be the envy of pets everywhere. Perched on the deck of Roman Abramovich's yacht, the billionaire's African Grey parrot travels the world.

Except it may not be sitting quite so pretty just now. The long arm of the New Zealand law is about to throw it into quarantine.

The grey parrot's crime is to be a bird travelling the world during the Asian bird flu crisis. Which must be galling, since it's an African Grey.

The grey parrot lives aboard the yacht Le Grand Bleu which is visiting Tonga and crew members have contacted officials to visit areas round New Zealand. It was not immediately clear if the Chelsea owner was aboard.

Phil Barclay, senior communications adviser at Biosecurity New Zealand said: "Our problem is the potential the african grey parrot has to carry diseases," he said, pointing out the 15 strains of bird flu it might bring with it. He said options were being explored for the parrot to be held in quarantine in Auckland or "constrained on the boat" during the visit.

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