Parrot gets 'depressed' after being neglected, pecks off feathers   

无锡动物园一鹦鹉啄光羽毛 疑因游客不理“抑郁”

扬子晚报记者昨天从无锡动物园了解到，因为觉得自己被游客“忽视”，动物园里一只金刚鹦鹉得了“抑郁症”，不停地啄自己的羽毛，最后将自己全身啄得光秃秃的，无奈之下，动物园最后只得将这只金刚鹦鹉送到兽医院进行治疗。对此，无锡动物园鸟类专家称，像鹦鹉这样的高智商动物，喜欢与人相处，如果感到人类不理它，就可能“内心郁闷”而出现类似行为，动物专家还呼吁人类多去关注动物的“内心世界”。 [查看全文]

(ECNS) – A parrot in a zoo in Jiangsu province, suspected of suffering from "depression" after being ignored by tourists, pecked off all its feathers, Yangtze Evening Post reported.

The parrot from Wuxi Zoo has been sent to a veterinary hospital for treatment.

A staffer at the zoo said the "depressed" parrot is a macaw of 7 or 8, who began pecking off its own feathers last year.

The macaw's behavior became worse during Spring Festival. An expert at the zoo explained the parrot thought it was not popular among tourists, felt "sad and bored," and started playing with its own feathers by pecking them off.

"Finding that tourists took no notice of it, the parrot began to peck off its feathers. It was another way to attract tourists," the expert said.

And when the parrot was moved indoors, away from tourists' view, it became more depressed. A feeder said the bird pecked off all its feathers after the move, and behaved manically.

An official at the zoo said the parrot needs at least three to six months to recover. "Parrots are intelligent, and dependent on human beings," he added.

Animal experts said animals with relatively high intelligence are more likely to become depressed.

According to people.com.cn, a 26-year-old parrot named Roy in Britain pecked off all its feathers while being kept in a garage for three years. It has been put on anti-depressants to recover from the trauma.