Budgies Kiwi and Bubi
Memorials to nature
From the perspective of an Aiderbichler
(told by Gisela Pschenitschnig)
Kiwi and Bubi have been living in the new budgie house at the animal visitor centre of Gut Aiderbichl Henndorf. The owner said that they felt uncomfortable with her.
If you study the origins of budgerigars, it really could be, that they would feel comfortable in their originalhome,in Australia. The budgerigars came to other parts of the worldby way of travellingto other parts of the world. Theyare among the most popular birds and sit in numerous households in Europe in cages that are too small. Msome fly through the flat and sit on a cupboard door, the majority look out of the window and say: “That’s where outside I actually wantto be. My home is nature, the trees, the sky, the sun and the wind…“.
Exotic species in European households
It has become fashionable to keep a wide variety of lizards in a terrarium in the living room. Who still knows the domestic fire salamander? It’s not interesting, we want the foreign, the exotic. There are snakes that live in terrariums and are then released somewhere in the cold.
Wondering if the animals are okay with this? Nature has done its homework,and determined, which animalspeciesfor the desert, for the poles, for the land, the sea, etc. are intendedfor the desert. Nature’s distribution system is well thought out and adivided into a logical network of species, which man is unfortunately destroyingmore and morethrough his intervention.
Animals are fads or remind us of childhood
As a child I had two guinea pigs – Lisi and Wuschel, and then also two budgies – Muckiand Hansi. I’ll never forget these animals, but today I think differently and wouldn’t keep a bird in a small cage in my flat. I know people who collect beer mats, others collect stones, others collect buttons or stamps. Parrots, budgies, canaries, spiders or lizards – none of them are rare stamps, but living beings and therefore fellow creatures. If you remove pieces of the puzzle and try to put them in a different place, perfection is over. A tarantula belongs in the jungle and not in a terrarium. The elephant prefers to live in Africa or India, and doesn’t like to be isolated in a zoo or in a circus.
Calls for help fill the budgie house faster than expected
Gut Aiderbichlhelps animals in need wherever possible. A few years agowewere supposed torescue 80 budgerigars. In reality,there werea total of 323 parakeetsliving in an old apartment. Dthe parakeets lived in a very small space, it stank of faeces, it reeked of despair and hopelessness for these small, colourful wonders of nature.The marvellous birds were Aiderbichler.
Our parakeets sing, talk and give the appearance of being content. Even though they are not in their Australian homeland, we have the impression that the little world they have created is fine for them.
It’s never too late to rethink. Yours sincerely, Gisela
