KevinD

Thank you for your kind note. If anything these magnificent creatures will teach us is patience. Never give up, just wait ............

Its good news.......EXCEPT if you are trying to save one's life, it makes it all the more difficult. I guess in the big picture it is best for all of them, but its a HUGE pain in the back end to rescue one from garbage heap in a third world country. That being said, its like you say hard to enforce, and sometimes in certain situations it can mean there death instead of protection. I guess im not really sure where I fall on the argument. Maybe, they should build into the law where you can bring your individual case before court or something. All I know is if your not into trafficking and the black market, it makes it all the more harder to rescue one. Its like the war on drugs, you will never win it.

I must apologize on the time estimate, after re reading the post this morning, it has only been 4 years for Sukei, been 10 years for me in the hole, I guess between the joy of seeing the CITES certificate and my impending retirement, I got too excited lol. Again I cant thank you guys enough, I don't know a single one of you, but you guys have been a source of support and I really appreciate it.

I have one bit of advice, don't force him to do anything, let him come to you, give him time. These loving creatures have a life span more then you and me put together, let him come to you. When he is ready

I'm sorry it has been so long, but Sukie is coming home. I secured the CITES permits, You might find that there is no problem an appropriate amount of money cant fix. This is not a plug for the website, but I have kept a record for sukui. Parrotfiles.com Now let me tell you outbout CITES, in any given country.....they really dont give a rats behind as long as they get there money. The problem is with fish and wildlife department in the US, If someone faces the same problem as I have, please let me know, I will help you. Its been years, but I got it figured out.. Thank all of you for your encouragement over the years. When you work for the government, you dont have a whole lot of time to do any thing else. Thank you again...... were coming home. On Luftansa. Sukie has to do his 30 days in Miami quarantine, but at least he wont die in this hell hole. Again thank alll of you!!!!!!!

All the pictures are on the website......out of respect for the owners here im not going to promote it...currently im in the Philippines with HORRIBLE internet, so best I can do is post messages..........he is SO smart though....I almost think the wild parrots have a special understanding...... He always asks me Dad do you love me? And I say yes I love you and he says thank you LOL Merry Christmas to all of you and your grey angels.

I wanted to say Merry Christmas......Sukei is doing well, he has about 300 word vocabulary.... He is full flighted he walks around sometimes and just talks. I'm still trying to get him home, haven't given up. He is so special......thanks guys for being here. Merry Christmas

Im sending him site traffic reports, if they are high enough, he wants to put a Kuwait Zoo banner on the site. Apparently, the zoo needs some traffic too. It came up in conversation, when I was asking about getting some CITES paperwork from him. Very strange, first guy I ever met in the middle east that wouldn't take a bribe lol.

Id like to travel with my bird lol....

It could only happen if you logged in with that pc to facbook. Im so sorry. Im not a big fan of facebook, but every one else is. So I put the tie in to the site. I deleted the reference from the face book page itself, so you should be ok. Again Im sorry. and thanks for trying to help Sukei.

Always a problem.... Ill delete it

The website for the video hosting has got me some traction, I promised the Kuwait Zoo ministry guy I would feature them on the site. He said he would get me the papers...if he sees some traffic. Please take this in the manner intended, its not a pimp for the site, there are no advertisements or money making things for me.... I just want to get Sukei home. Ive done a lont of work on it, and I think its ready for what ever some one throws at it..... Im about to start a save Sukei campaign. Please just have a look, and tell me if you have suggestions..... http://parrotfiles.com Ive spent a bunch, and its not for profit, and never will be..... I hope the Kuwait zoo guy thinks it is enough. Thanks Kevin

You know the part I am having the hardest time with, is the Kuwait Government turns a blind eye to all the black market smuggling in of thousands of these parrots, but you cant rescue one and get him out. I will find a way. Again thanks for all the help.

Thank All of you so much, sometimes I get tunnel vision, and a lot of sets of eyes on a problem, are better one. I will keep you updated. In the mean time if there is anything I can do for anyone here, please let me know.

You know I even went as far as to use that useless website where you can sent the President an email.....Yea Right LOL, and asked if he could pardon a turkey on thanksgiving, maybe he could pardon my parrot LOL... I pointed out my last 7 years of service to the country, and as bad as his ratings are, it might be a good will photo op LOL! Ill probably just get audited by the IRS LOL Got to try and keep a sense of humor about it. It does have maybe a slight chance it will catch someone's eye because I have a .mil email address. I think I have a better shot at winning the lotto LOL

Sukei is chipped and has a clean bill of health from the animal ministry here.....I see loop holes here, and will investigate further. Thank you for your time in researching this for me. There is still the absolute ban on all parrots from certain areas. http://nvap.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/nonus_pet_bird.shtml All I need to do is get him out of Kuwait to the Philippines where there are no bans. To get him out of Kuwait, I need the CITES permit. You have given me some good resource material to study and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thanks Timber... not what I need but thank you I've almost resigned myself taking the 16 week trip on the boat......but I don't care at this point.... God has given me the resources to do it, so I can.....some may say im crazy ...its just a bird, but to me he is family

Thanks for your reply, I understand this is legal stuff and some will hesitate to reply, but I will get Sukei home even if I have to take a ship from the middle east around the long horn of Africa...he WILL come home... Thank you murfchhck for a response.

Hi guys, I need a little advice. I have finally found a person that says they can get me the CITES paperwork for Sukie, so I can export him to the Philippines, from there the US has no import ban. I have prefaced this with what I said in other posts, I know its not right what is happening to these birds on the black market, and wish I had done my homework prior to rescuing Sukei, but what is done is done. If I do not do what I need to, my poor Sukei will be left to languish in this hell hole for the rest of his existence, so I am determined to get him out of here. SO my question to anyone willing to help, is what does a CITES paper even look like, I don't know if Ill be buying a piece of paper that isn't worth the ink on it. I need to know what one looks like and includes for just ONE parrot, not a mass export. I've been told there is a difference. Again for those of you with strong feelings towards this kind of things I apologize in advance..... but it is just Sukei. Believe me I have already been lectured about what a dumb*&^ I was and I accept that. What I cannot accept is leaving him here in the sand heap probably to suffer and die an early death. Thanks to anyone that can help me with the information. BTY I googled it and its like a top secret document I found many and different samples, but I cant nail one down for an African grey, I cant find one anywhere. Let me put a face on the problem, maybe it will help you feel sorry for him and me LOL

I have found you can take the grey out of the wild, but you can not take the wild out of the grey. They still have their base instincts, the bites in my opinion are not driven by emotion, but by instinct built into them for thousands of years. Its like a trained tiger, you can train them, and they can be your best cuddly friend most times. I reference the Lion/Tiger acts in Vegas that go bad sometimes, and people get killed or seriously injured. My experience with Greys spans only one year now, but in my humble opinion, that the way I see it. I have a grey that was most probably smuggled into a country straight from Africa as a chick. So I really see the difference between a domestic bred bird and one born in the wild....... Again, just an opinion, your miles may vary. Good luck to you, and time heals all wounds, bites or otherwise.

Well, I just wanted to say, Thank you to everyone here, and I go NO WHERE else but to this forum when I have time. I wish I had the time to be an everyday dedicated member, but it just is not possible because of my circumstances. I wanted to give you a little positive news. While I know this is an "End justifies the means" I think we will have Sukei's CITES paperwork in a few weeks. Again, I understand why it is in place, and some might disagree with me, on how I am going to bypass it, but it is just for just Sukei. Some may say if people were not able to circumvent the system then the black market may go away. To those of you I say your are correct, however, because of ignorance on my part, I am in the situation I am. But if I follow the LETTER of the law then this one beautiful creature will either be condemned to suffering till its end, or he gets rescued. This is through no fault of his own....... So I am going to make the judgment call, and say the end justifies the means..... forgive me for those that do not agree. On another subject, when I got Sukei, he was in really bad shape, and he has progressed soo far...... He is So intelligent, he is now a full flighted grey, he can fly where ever he wants to in the house, but still seems to have problems with windows...... I put his purch by the windows so he can see it is solid, (He taps on it with his beak), yet sometimes, he just decides he is going to fly full speed into the windows, I thought about placing some colored tape on the windows, anyone have any ideas.... Again I apologize for not interacting every day or so, and only posting when I have time, and thanks for any input.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, sometimes, these things wear you down. Sukei seems to have taken no notice at all...LOL, every day there is a new word or phrase. So smart these guys are.... Thanks again.

One last note, I found a huge resource here, I suggest anyone needing info on African greys come here , they are helpful, dedicated and their only concern is for the greys.....and other parrots Thanks again. Kevin

My fight with the export papers continue, but I think I can get him to the Bahamas, I have a friend there. I know the CITIES were put in place for a reason, but were talking about a rescued parrot, not a dozen, not 6 or 5 or 2...... Just one rescued parrot. I will get him out... He is so smart now. I ask him ...Sukei who are you, he answers "I am Sukei, what do you want LOL. I finally got my software and server issues ironed out. This is not a plug for the web site... so no embed. but I wanted to show you his two year old birthday http://parrotfiles.com/picture/Sukei039s-2nd-Birthday/be8636eadbaa9bcebc792990e80b1b2e I love this little guy, the picture is with my wife. My Gov Job does not allow me to put my face up.... Thanks guys for all your support and advice since I got him.

WOW, Ill keep him out of the tree....Although I noticed this particular plant he will not chew the leaves, but in a few other plants he does. That might explain it. Maybe he knows the leaves are toxic. Thanks for the research!