Parrots removed from Lincolnshire zoo after they started swearing at customers

One of the African grey parrots who started swearing at customers
Lincolnshire Wildlife Park
Rebecca Speare-Cole29 September 2020

A group of parrots at a UK zoo had to be removed from display when they all began swearing at customers.

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Park adopted five African grey parrots on August 15 and put them into a room together to isolate.

However, while they were in quarantine, they managed to teach each other a raft of obscenities.

The staff were left in hysterics when they realised what had happened.

Tyson, one of the African grey parrots who started swearing at customers permission yes via email 2909
Lincolnshire Wildlife Park

But the park swiftly put the birds back into isolation when they started swearing at guests.

Steve Nichols, CEO at the Friskney park, said that over the last 25 years he has taken in many parrots "that have sometimes had a bit of blue language".

He told the Standard: "Every now and then you’ll get one that swears and it’s always funny. We always find it very comical when they do swear at you."

But, he added that these newly adopted birds had been stuck together with nothing to do and the zoo soon had a room "full of swearing birds," on their hands.

Elsie, one of the African grey parrots who started swearing at customers
Lincolnshire Wildlife Park

"The more they swear the more you usually laugh which then triggers them to swear again," Mr Nichols said.

When the parrots went on display to the public, there were reports they had sworn at a customer within 20 minutes.

Mr Nichols said: "We found it highly amusing and the customers were fine – they were no problem at all.

"But we worried because we had a weekend coming up and children coming."

The birds have now been placed in an off-shore enclosure in the hopes they would be influenced by other parrots to behave more appropriately.

They will be released into separate areas so that they can no longer encourage each other.

Mr Nichols said African grey parrots are particularly adept at "learning vocalisations from all sorts of noises".

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