Chessington World of Adventures is distributing wanted posters in a bid to overcome its bird shortage.
The theme parks’ new Wild Asia land opens in March next year and part of the plans involve a walk-through aviary full of lorikeets, which are small, brightly coloured parrots.
The lorikeets wanted appeal was launched because the aviary requires 100 birds and, so far, they have a pitiful grand total of two.
A park spokesman: “We’ve contacted zoo’s across Europe in our search and things are now getting very urgent.”
The two lorikeets already at Chessington came from Antwerp Zoo but they have not ruled out accepting birds from residents, as long as they are rainbow lorikeets and had all the relevant health tests.
Explaining the shortage, a spokesman said: “The main reason is that because they are such lovely birds, few attractions are prepared to part with them. Habitat destruction also means that there is a shortage of lorikeets in the world.”
The walk-through will still open if the birds are not found but the zoo is hopeful they will succeed by following up on potential leads.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here