Funny: (African) Parrots were removed from a UK safari park after teaching each other to swear

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[Funny! Jan]

African Grey parrots

• A group of African Grey parrots were quarantined together at a UK animal safari park when they taught each other how to swear.
• When the birds realised staff were laughing at their swearing, they started laughing too.
• The birds were temporarily removed to an off-site enclosure where staff hope that other parrots will teach them better language.

A group of African Grey parrots who were quarantined together at a wildlife park in Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom, taught each other how to swear, according to a report from The Independent.

The five birds arrived at Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in August and shared the same room, the park’s chief executive Steve Nichols told reporters.

The foul language made staff on site laugh, and encouraged the birds to keep going with their naughty words, Nichols told Lincolnshire Live.

The parrots then started to equate swear words with laughter and would start laughing at their own obscenities.

It’s not uncommon for parrots to learn swear words and be encouraged to continue it when they see people enjoy their vulgar comedy.

"But when you get four or five together that have learnt the swearing and naturally learnt the laughing so when one swears, one laughs and before you know it just got to be like an old working men’s’ club scenario where they are all just swearing and laughing," Nichols told Lincolnshire Live.

By the time the park reopened to the public, the birds had gotten in the habit of calling visitors names. The staff and customers got a laugh out of it, but the decision was made to move them to an enclosure until they’re vocabulary improved.

"We put them in an off-shore enclosure with the intention that hopefully they will start learning the other parrot’s noise that are around," Nichols told Lincolnshire Live. "What we will do now is release them out but in separate areas so at least if they do swear it is not as bad as three or four of them all blasting it out at once."

Source: https://www.businessinsider.co.za/foul-fowl-language-2020-9