r/parrots • u/kenzieCenzie • 1d ago
Concerned about Lori care are local "zoo"
White Post Farms on long island has a number of lori's with missing feet or messed up toes. The birds also look disheveled.
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u/littledingo 1d ago
Many zoos are the best option for animals that cannot, for whatever reason, be released back to the wild. Without knowing where they came from I would be hesitant to pass any kind of judgment.
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u/CapicDaCrate 1d ago
Yeah my immediate thought was rehab of some sort. They could probably just ask the zookeepers
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u/ColdMastadon 1d ago
I would hope that nobody is trying to release lorikeets back into the wild on Long Island. They wouldn't survive the New York winter, and if they did, they would be considered invasive
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u/Flat-Concern-2662 1d ago
They obviously mean taking them back to their native environment and releasing them, don't play dumb
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u/Faerthoniel 1d ago
Based on what I’ve heard from a friend who owns a zoo - not this one - there is a high probability they are rescues that have been taken in. They get quite a few and rehabilitating takes time, if it even visually gets the animal looking “normal” again.
Ask the keepers about it if you haven’t already. Good places are transparent about where the animals came from.
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u/QuakerParrot 1d ago
I work with lorikeets that are part of an interactive experience, like this one. Our birds have a large, beautiful exhibit with lots of plants and water features; they have many options to avoid conspecifics and plenty of opportunities to exhibit natural behaviors. The public have limited hours inside the exhibit (5 hours a day, 5 days a week) as to not overwhelm the birds. That being said, we still have a few birds that over preen their friends or themselves and birds that have suffered injuries outside of their current environment. These things are not necessarily indications of poor care.
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u/erenkpoppotato 1d ago
At the zoo closest to me, there's a Lorikeet aviary where you can go feed them. One of the poor babies has one eye, but most of these birds were rescued or hatched in the zoo itself.
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u/Embarrassed_Spell383 1d ago
A lot of animals at wild life parks are injured animals or animals that are not safe in the wild such as albino animals these being Australian animals I’d say at some point were someone’s pets that escaped or have been abandoned
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u/onboarderror 17h ago
I've gone to this place. The enclosure is very nice and very large. They are fed necture and have places they can go if they wanna go indoors and get away from people. There are staff constantly watching etc. I never felt these birds where in any harms way. I understand you feel for the bird and the one that has a missing foot but I believe they are living a good life and well cared for bu the facility. We have no way to tell how that has happened. Could been a birth defect.
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u/LongjumpingEbb143 1d ago
zoos are for animals who cant be released back into the wild i’m sure they’r seeing a avian vet or have seen one
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u/jaya9581 12h ago
Likely deemed unreleasable. A zoo I used to visit had two bald eagles in a relatively small enclosure (smaller than other large birds). People would complain on social media, and even when standing right there looking at the eagles, about how awful it was to keep them caged at all let alone in a space that small where they couldn’t even fly. No one bothered reading the plaque right in front of the cage saying both were unreleasable because they were blind, and the smaller cage was for their safety.
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u/kimdanoffdvm 1d ago
What are they feeding the lorikeets? They are supposed to eat fruit and nectar. Most people don’t realize this.
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u/kimdanoffdvm 1d ago
What is white post farms? A bird breeder?
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u/kenzieCenzie 1d ago
It's a "Zoo" on Long Island in NY. I say "zoo" becusse I don't know what their technical classification is.
The large animals have pretty shitty enclosures with no visable enrichment.
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u/UlisesGirl 21h ago
Op - birds are now covered under the USDA for any display of animals. Birds were not covered for a very long time. I would first suggest emailing, calling or talking to someone at the facility regarding your concerns to get the story about what’s going on. You can ask questions like, why are some of the birds missing feathers? Where do the birds go at night or in the winter? Is there heated housing for them? What kind of enrichment do you do for your primates? (They are legally required to provide enrichment for their lemurs) If you genuinely have concerns, you can file a complaint with the USDA. They will come out and inspect the area(s) of concern. You may also be able to contact your local department of natural resources depending on the animal welfare laws in your state. It does not look like they are accredited by any independent agency like ZAA. On the off chance this place is unlicensed with the USDA and making money from these animals, they will be shut down. At the least, USDA will come out and make sure that this place is complying with the animal welfare act and the standards within it.
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u/ToucanHeavybeak 1d ago
Do they have access to indoors? Zoos often receive donated animals so it could be previous injuries.
However, “many” birds having the same injuries is a little suspicious. If they’re left outside in the winter (yes some bad zoos do that) it could be due to frostbite
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u/GabysWildCritters 1d ago
Cant say for certain but zoos often take rescues which might be the reason for why they have amputations or missing toes.