When the biggest in the UK met the biggest in the world
Working at the UK Parrot Zoo does have its perks and Steve Nichols CEO of the Parrot Zoo made the most of one, when the chance arose to visit the largest collection of parrots in the world he wasn’t going to miss it, this was also connected with visiting what must be one of the nicest zoos in the world. “Experiencing Loro Parque is a must for anyone who visits Tenerife” says Steve,” whether you have a passion for parrots or not, the place is just superb with every facility you can imagine, all the animals live in the most exquisite of enclosures with their health and mind being of the utmost priority, this was so clearly seen in their behaviour”, “ I walked through the newly finished Ketandra Treeptops, an Australian themed walk-through enclosure of unbelievable standards, it is huge in all dimensions and the amazing sight of a Palm Cockatoo flying down to greet you is something you will not forget”. When asked if this was the highlight of his trip a wry smile appeared and it could easily see that there was something else, “Well no, Loro Parque was the commercial side of things and although anyone within the zoo world can learn something from there, my trip was made special by the fact I was invited to visit the private breeding centre situated a few miles away in a high secure facility that houses over 3000 birds in nearly 
1200 enclosures”, “all I can say is wow, yes it was everything I expected and more, just to marvel at the many 100s of fit looking healthy parrots,The Loro Parque Fundacion are by far the leaders in parrot breeding, assisting many conservation areas around the world and already donating more than $10,000,000 to these projects over the years so if you are going to learn anything from anyone then you may as well go straight to the top, and that is exactly where I was, everything was done in vast quantity to extremely high standards, even the cleaning of the coop cups (the silver pots you put food in, in the cages), yes there was more than 2000 to clean on a daily basis and Pedro, the chap in charge of that particular duty that day showed me around the machine that carried out this mammoth task.
of the centre” he said. walking past the famous Lears Macaws and what a grand bird they are, I mentioned the netting above which was split into two different colours, i was informed that this was for different levels of sun protection depending on where the specimen originated from, but what then took me into a realm few have ever experienced, I was allowed to witness the majestic Spix macaw, the rarest parrot in the world, the proud male protecting the entrance to the nest box while his mate was tentatively tending the fertile egg within, Matthias then said you can now witness something very few in the world have ever seen as he escorted me in the viewing area within a building where a large screen displaying pictures from the nestbox cameras clearly showed the hen caring for the egg. “You could only stand in absolute awe, simply amazing” “That was the perfect end to a perfect day and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the staff that made my day just perfect”
“My eyes became wider round every corner, whether it was a Pesquet Parrot, Gang Gang Cockatoo or a Hyacinth Macaw preening its mate that you witnessed. The commitment from the animal team was easily visible, everyone loved what they were doing and I could see why”, “If you like parrots you were in parrot heaven, Dr. Matthias Reinschmidt, the curator of birds told me” even the veterinary surgeon, Heinrich Muller agreed, “I have the best house ever, directly in the middle