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Bird refuge is still active, but it's changed
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Published: June 22, 2009
KANNAPOLIS - Mary and John Bradford's Tropics Exotic Bird Refuge in Kannapolis was national news a decade ago, when it was covered by "Ripley's Believe it or Not" and "National Geographic Explorer." Jack Hanna of "Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures" called it the "nation's only known retirement home for exotic birds."
However, the better known it became, the more people called with birds they wanted to dump. What started as a few dozen quickly became over 400, filling their house, multiple sheds and a 44,000-cubic foot dome in the backyard. The flock became such a financial drain that the couple had to refinance their home and give up their van.
Today, the refuge survives, but much has changed (www.tropics .parrotrefuge.com).
Here are excerpts of an interview with Mary Bradford, 62.
Q. How many birds do you have?
We're down to 30 birds, and that's it. We've stopped taking in birds with a promise of keeping them forever. We realized that many of the birds being given to us didn't require individual care. That meant we could rehome them to places where they'd be wanted.
Q. What became of the others?
Many were very good, tame pet birds. People had gotten tired of them....Most were well qualified to remain pets in individual homes and they deserved the one-on-one attention from humans, rather than the general attention they would get in our facility. We decided to change our mode of operation, so to speak, by seeking out adoptive homes as qualified people came to us.
Q. You still taking birds?
We are still a refuge....We're the oldest (exotic bird) sanctuary in the United States. We're still doing the work. But our refuge is for those birds that are severely troubled or physically handicapped. We're talking paralysis, blindness and birds with deformities, like not having feet. We still provide permanent care on a limited basis, but for the most part, we act as a facilitator, or mediator, between people who have birds and people who might need to adopt.
Q. How are finances?
That's our biggest challenge. We have a lot of debt, and we don't ever expect to get back what we've put into this....The economy has had a big impact on donations, and we've had to turn a lot of birds away. Before, we took them with no questions asked. Right now, we're trying to maintain the status quo. We can't increase the population unless it's a dire emergency.
Q. One bird, Orko, became famous for winning $10,000 on "America's Funniest Home Videos" in 1997. Where's he now?
He went into (an adoptive) home this year and he's doing well. He actually found a female companion, Peaches, here of his same breed (Moluccan cockatoo). She was going to befriend Orko whether he liked it or not. He would scream at her to get away every time she got near. He finally allowed her to become his companion and that changed him tremendously. We were able to find him and his companion a home. We had him 15 years. That's a real success story. We do miss him. There are a lot of them that we miss.
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