Exotic parrots are on a non-stop flight to becoming a menace in New Zealand, as pet owners release hundreds of them into the wild each year and, in doing so, put the survival of native birds at risk.
Roughly 6% of New Zealanders own pet birds and an average of 331 of the animals are lost each year; 92% of these are exotic parrots, mostly in the Auckland region, according to the University of Auckland.
