Sponsor Polly
Polly is an Umbrella cockatoo and has been at the Sanctuary since 2001.
Being an original wild caught imported cockatoo we do not know exactly how old she is, but she lived with her previous family for over 20 years until they passed her on to the Sanctuary due to old age.
At that time when she was purchased by them there was a lot of imported cockatoos sold in pet shops, wild caught cockatoos was not then an illegal trade.
Polly was extremely nervous when she first arrived and had only 1 perch across the middle of the cage low to the bottom, no toys and the cage was old and rusty. When we picked her up to transport here she could hardly climb or move, her legs were so weak with having sat in the same place for many years on a dowelling perch.
At the time we thought she might not survive, but after a while with care and caution she gradually came out of her shell and started to climb around and chew toys and became more adventurous with her food.
Polly now lives in an aviary with another old female cockatoo, who came to use from a different rescue which closed down. Polly is still a nervous cockatoo and does not like to get close to humans but she does climb around and likes to sit in the sun when it is out and is happy enough.
Although I have no doubt that what we can offer in captivity is a world away from freedom in their natural habitat.
If you would like to help the charity and sponsor Polly, please click on the link on the right hand side of this page, thank you