An animal out of its natural habitat can be really dangerous, not only for the creature itself since it is in an environment that maybe isn’t suitable for it, but also because it can have pretty serious consequences for the strange ecosystem where it is and the fauna that resides there normally.
Hence this problem, Australia took some drastic ways to get rid of a foreign racing pigeon that managed to cross the Pacific Ocean from Oregon, in the United States to Australia. The bird supposes a threat to the country due to the big amount of exotic diseases that birds carry.
The pigeon, now called Joe, quickly became Australia’s most wanted individual in order to avoid a biosecurity disaster in the nation. It seems like Joe was racing in Oregon and suddenly disappeared.
Joe was found almost two months later, 8 thousand miles away from where he was last seen, in a backyard in Melbourne, where he stopped to rest after being exhausted from his long journey. He was rescued by Kevin Celli-Bird, who named him after the current President of the United States.
Celli-Bird, who wasn’t used to seeing this kind of bird outside of his home, shared pictures of his new friend online. He also gave him a little bit of dry biscuit and let him bathe and drink water from his backyard fountain. Joe stayed in the area for a few weeks, and when Celli-Bird finally got to come close to him, he noticed that he was very weak and had a blue band around his leg, which led him to believe that Joe had an owner.
The pictures quickly caught the attention of the local media, but he didn’t expect to be called by the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service who needed him to catch and isolate the pigeon.
However, Celli-Bird couldn’t do it, even with all of his effort, Joe was quicker than him and made it impossible to catch him since he has finally got some strength after his rest. This led the authorities to consider other options, like calling the registered owner of the pigeon to go and get him, but the owner never answered so they were thinking of hiring a professional bird catcher.
After a few days, Celli-Bird was delighted to take care of his new wild pet. Joe seems pretty comfortable in the backyard and socializing with local dovers, but the authorities aren’t happy about the exotic presence of the bird, and they insist that they have to take care of Joe themselves, as like, kill him.
They are aware that this measure could sound very drastic and cruel, but they assure that this is the only way to keep the rest of the birds in Australia safe and avoid the possibility that Joe could spread foreign diseases through the country.!
