A group of potty-mouthed parrots living at a British zoo are to be sworn into a larger flock in an attempt to teach them some manners. The eight
The center adopted the first five of the profane psittacines back in 2020, yet quickly decided to
“When we came to move them, the language that came out of their carrying boxes was phenomenal, really bad,” Steve Nichols, the park’s chief executive, told
By the time the foul-mouthed five were placed back on display several months later, their language had improved somewhat although their love of swearing had not been fully eradicated. This prompted park officials to put up a sign warning visitors about the parrots’ vulgarity.
More recently, the park adopted a further three African greys – named Captain, Sheila, and Eric – with a similar skill for cussing. To prevent the situation from spiraling out of control, zookeepers have now decided to move the offensive octet to a larger flock of 100 birds in the hope that their swearing will be “diluted”.
Speaking to
Recognizing the risks inherent in this approach, Nichols admits that things could also go the other way, with the eight parrots teaching their colorful language to the rest of the flock. If this happens, Nichols says “it’s going to turn into some adult aviary.”
In spite of this potential for things to backfire spectacularly, he insists that 100 cursing African greys wouldn’t necessarily be such a bad thing, since “you never tire of being told to eff off by a parrot. You can’t help but laugh.”
Unsurprisingly, then, Nichols says that most of the