Two parrots that went missing from London Zoo have been found together 60 miles away after being spotted in a Cambridgeshire garden.
Critically endangered blue-throated macaws Lily and Margot flew away on 21 October while flying freely as part of their daily routine at the central London attraction.
Days later zookeepers were alerted to Cambridgeshire by a family in Buckden, who had spotted the sisters in the trees behind their garden.
They fled the scene before birdkeepers could arrive on Sunday, but were quickly traced to a field and public footpath in Brampton.
The birds’ identities were then confirmed as the missing Lily and Margot, who immediately flew into the arms of the zoo’s experts.
A zookeeper was filmed carrying one of the birds, of which there are thought to be 400 left in the wild in the world, over to a cage and asking if she was “super hungry”. She added the parrot looked “really good” having survived in the wilds of Cambridgeshire for nearly a week.
After the rescue, the pair were treated to pumpkin seeds, walnuts and pecans – some of their favourite foods – and transported back to the zoo.
They are said to be in good condition and are now in quarantine at the on-site animal hospital, after which they will rejoin their parents Popeye and Ollie.
A London Zoo spokesperson described the birds as being “in good condition and their usual loud, chirpy selves”, though they were “a little tired” from their long flight.
