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Woman Shocked After Finding Kookaburra Being Sold In A US Pet Store

Woman Shocked After Finding Kookaburra Being Sold In A US Pet Store

“He’s on his own. He’s only known solitude and that’s what made me feel really quite sad for him."

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

One of the best things about Australia is its wildlife. Sure, more than half the things we have on this island are bound to injure or harm us in some way, shape or form, but at least it's an interesting country.

But it's weird to think of classic Aussie animals living overseas - like imagine seeing a kookaburra being sold in a pet shop in America.

Oh wait, that totally happened.

Wendy Davidson is an Australian living in Virginia and came across the iconic bird sitting in a cage in a pet store with a whopping $1,700 price tag. Kookaburras are awesome but that's a hefty amount of cash for a bird.

It's the same as seeing kangaroos being flogged in Canada or wombats for sale in Namibia.

In Australia, its' 100 percent illegal to keep a kookaburra as a pet because they're a protected species, but that law obviously doesn't stretch all the way to Virginia.

The pet store seems to enjoy having Thunder (that's the name they gave it, not us) and even put it in some quirky outfits like a collar and tie or Santa hat to entice the customers.

Wendy Davidson

The store's Facebook page has been hit with a bunch of comments from people asking for them to let poor Thunder go.

One person wrote: "Please surrender Thunder the kookaburra to a sanctuary who specialise in Australian wildlife. It is very inhumane to house a wild Australian bird in a pet store, let alone dress him up in ridiculous outfits."

Speaking to Channel 9's Today Show, Ms Davidson said: "He's on his own. He's only known solitude and that's what made me feel really quite sad for him and I think that's what the Australian public are feeling as well."

Wendy Davidson

"I am just literally a concerned Australian who saw a bird which shouldn't be so far from home."

The pet store in question has released a statement via it's Facebook page saying: "It has been brought to our attention that there are several articles going around the Internet about our kookaburra Thunder.

"We would like to address this concern by stating that thunder was not taken from the wild in Australia shipped over to our store! Exportation of birds was outlawed over 20 years ago.

"All of our baby birds including thunder have come from our reputable baby breeders that we have been doing business with for 30 years. Thunders lineage comes from a line of kookaburra that were legally brought into the states and legally bred through our licensed breeder."

Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Birds of Pet Paradise

Topics: America, Community, Animals, Australia