Parrots and Sparrows: Why We Care

Last May the World Wildlife Fund reported on the arrests of two recidivist African Grey parrot trappers in Lobeke National Park in Cameroon. The men were likely implicated in the decapitation death of thousands of African Greys. Another parrot thief in Cameroon was arrested with 353 heads and 2000 tails in his possession. Those body parts were apparently destined for a witch doctor who used them as homebrew medicine for the mentally ill.

The trappers cut off the heads of the birds and pluck the tail feathers. The rest of the body is either eaten or left to rot on the ground

Since the live parrot trade is now banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, there’s has been an uptick in dead parrot smuggling. Heads and feathers of dead creatures are far easier to conceal and transport than live, screaming animals.

Authorities suspect the parrot heads go to India and China and the tails to Nigeria.

Why should we care about decapitated African Grey parrots?

Shouldn’t our concern for Africa be reserved for human beings who suffer from high infant mortality, AIDS, malaria and many other treatable, preventable and curable illnesses? Aren’t parrots very low on the priority list? And who are we to criticize Cameroon? Don’t we decapitate a few billion chickens, cows and pigs per year?

Don’t we exterminate wild animals the minute they become pests? Here in Southern California, licensed trappers and hunters are hired to kill cougars, black bears, foxes, bobcats and coyotes. Nobody makes much of a fuss.

So don’t we have vastly more important things to care about than a few dead parrots in African forests?

We care not because parrots are as or more important than children or mothers or tigers or pandas. We care because we ought to and we can. We care because it shocks our sensibilities to exterminate beautiful, intelligent animals. We care because the death of a beautiful being diminishes us. We care because caring elevates our spirit. We don’t need to budget what we care about. We don’t need a prioritized grocery list.

Caring radiates. Caring breeds more caring. Empathy isn’t something you save up for a rainy day. We can spend our empathy every day. Empathy blossoms in the spending. It replenishes itself. You can’t give enough of it away. The more you give, the more you’ve got.

Empathy is never too goofy, never too generous.

Money is finite. Activism is finite. But compassion is infinite. Caring is free of charge.

Jesus got it right when he said that not a single sparrow would fall to the ground without God caring. No creature, no caring is too trivial. Empathy is for everyone. Every sparrow matters. Every African Grey.

Photos are Greys who were rescued in Cameroon. Thanks to the Limbe Wildlife Centre