The blue and gold macaw who cannot fly, cannot hide, and cannot live as nature intended, and what you can do to help.
If you thought humans could not treat wild animals any worse, think again.
The Gardens Lounge, Manchester, is using one of the most intelligent birds on the planet as decoration.
Rio is a blue and gold macaw, a species naturally found in the Peruvian rainforest, where these magnificent birds fly hundreds of miles a day, mate for life, and live in complex, deeply bonded social groups. But right now, in Manchester, Rio is alone.
He sits in a small glass cage with no enrichment, no room to fly, and nowhere to hide. He is subjected to hours of loud music, flashing lights, and strangers attempting to touch him. He cannot exhibit a single natural behaviour. He has no mate, no family and no freedom.
The Gardens Lounge has claimed Rio’s welfare is considered, that they have even consulted a “parrot welfare specialist”. But it does not take a specialist to see how profoundly unnatural and distressing Rio’s life is. It takes only eyes and a conscience.
Wild animals are not entertainment. They are not décor. They are not props to drive footfall or likes on social media. That the owners of The Gardens Lounge ever believed this was acceptable is beyond comprehension. Rio is not a native UK wild animal, but that does not diminish our responsibility to him or our duty to get him help. We will not stand by while any animal suffers.
That is why we are demanding Rio be surrendered to a registered rescue and sanctuary, where he can fly, where he can be social, where he can simply be a macaw. Where his welfare is prioritised, not for likes, not for social media, not for an attraction, but because he is a sentient, intelligent being who should never have been in captivity in the first place.