Oct. 22 (UPI) — A cockatoo that spent nearly a month trapped inside a supermarket in Sydney, Australia, was captured by a wildlife rescuer after weeks of attempts.
The sulphur-crested cockatoo, dubbed Mickey by members of the public, flew into the Coles supermarket in Campbelltown’s Macarthur Square shopping center through an open loading dock door and was unable to find his way back out.
Mickey spent nearly a month evading capture attempts inside the store.
“The poor bird hasn’t had any dark for over four weeks and has been living on brioche and water [placed] by the night manager — who is very fond of the bird,” Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Services said on social media after an unsuccessful attempt to capture Mickey on Monday night.
A rescuer with the group, named Ravi, returned to the store Tuesday with Doris, a free-flight trained sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Doris was able to help Ravi put Mickey at ease and the bird was finally loaded into a crate for transport out of the store.
Mickey, a bird native to the area, will be released back into the wild, rescuers said.
“Mickey is looking pretty healthy, all things considered and will be released back home soon. We hope he stays out of trouble and lays off the brioche for many years to come,” Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Services said on social media Tuesday.
