Dubai expat declares Dh10,000 prize to find missing parrots

A Mirdif resident has offered a cash prize of Dh10,000 for anyone who can find and return five of her pet parrots. A South African expat, Yolande Koen Bennett says the parrots were in their cages outside the patio when, on April 27, she found them missing. Bennett has reasons to believe that trespassers might have entered her garden and stolen them. "I wanted a place for them to get sunlight and fresh air," she says.
"The weather was nice and I just wanted to see how they would interact outside and wake up with all the birds chirping away. On the first night, there was no problem. But the next morning, the cages were empty. It would have been impossible for them to have gotten out since there were chains with the locks on the doors of the two cages. The one tray was on the grass seven metres away from where the cages were. The other cages had two separate hatches on them that could only be opened from the outside," says Yolande.
Upon filing a police complaint, fingerprints were taken and a case was made. "Charlie is an Umbrella Cockatoo (mainly white with yellow underwings and tail), who can say "Hello Charlie", "sweet boy" and "I love you".Tequila and Savanna are Galah Cockatoos (pink and grey) and Coco is an African Grey, all of them can say "Hello". Zulu (green, red, blue and yellow) is a double yellow-headed Amazon, who can say "hello", "Salaam alaikum" and "hohoho" and even makes a siren sound," says Yolande.
She estimates their collective worth to be close to Dh30,000. "We have been posting on social media, putting up posters all over Mirdif. Even after offering a cash reward of Dh10,000 to return all our five parrots, we have absolutely no leads," adds Yolande.
anamika@khaleejtimes.com 

• Dubai

Anamika Chatterjee

Anamika Chatterjee is Associate Editor, Features at Khaleej Times. A senior journalist, she helms arts, culture, entertainment and lifestyle verticals for the print and digital platforms of the publication.

anamika@khaleejtimes.com