Birds seized from pet trade breed at wildlife park

Three pairs of hill mynahs have now all bred at the zoo in Cornwall

Three pairs of birds that were rescued from the illegal pet trade have bred at a wildlife park.

Three pairs of hill mynahs were seized in early 2020 and taken to Paradise Park in Cornwall.

The park said mynahs were often kept as pets especially in the 1970s and 1980s and could learn a range of words, whistles, and calls.

It said the birds were rescued from Belgium and the pairs bred in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but this was the first year all three pairs had successfully bred at the park.

Mynahs can learn a wide range of words and sounds, zoo staff say

Curator David Woolcock said: "We are delighted to report that our three pairs of Hill Mynahs, have now all bred, which is wonderful news.

"A big thank you goes to our keepers with their excellent bird keeping skills, which is helping to turn around the fortunes of this priority species.

"We have already placed young birds bred in previous years in four other UK collections in order to create a viable captive population for the species within the UK."