A Flight of Knowledge Takes Wing with Julie Murad
When we think captive wildlife in crisis, our focus stays on the large charismatic mammals. Our conservation landscape has expanded to those places that flow where land ends, to our oceans, rivers, lakes, and forests. But there is an immense space that ties all this together- the skies above us, and the multitude of exotic birds that inhabit them, that are now available as pets and companions. Spectacular birds have become a part of the human landscape to inhabiting our living rooms, often with little knowledge by their owners of their unique needs. Societies value birds for economic, cultural, ethical and spiritual reasons, which lead to aspects of avian conversation that almost invisibly goes over our heads- not only the decline of wild avian populations, but the growing trend of keeping birds in captivity-not just zoos, but as companions. Knowing what birds need, is the focus of The Gabriel Foundation.