Kakatua Bulu Cockatoo Sanctuary

PO Box 206
Stowmarket
Suffolk
IP14 5WL

Web: https://www.facebook.com/CockatooSanctuaryRescue/

Phone: 0845 475 8353

Established: February 2012

Registered Charity Number: 1146051

Email: info@cockatoosanctuary.org

Cockatoo Sanctuary a registered charity in the UK working with birds who are abandoned, disabled, in ill health, are feather pluckers & have other anti-social behaviours.

We never re-home any Cockatoos all birds stay with us for the duration of their lives. We have Cockatoos of all sizes and ages with various problems, some with problems as mentioned above and some whereby the previous owners have just not been able to keep them for various reasons.

The Cockatoos have as much freedom as possible, some live in aviaries and those which are not suited to aviary life live indoors. Cockatoos are naturally sociable birds and they love company of their own kind, the birds at the sanctuary are encourage to vocalise and exercise and do what comes naturally.

How and why did you get started?

Have kept Cockatoos for over 24 years, not initially to rescue them but very quickly realised that Cockatoos are so difficult as pets and that there are too many being passed around because of this reason, through no fault of their own, so decided to go into the rescue side of keeping Cockatoos which seems like is what I was sent here on this earth to do, can’t imagine life without them.

What birds are with you at the moment?

Over 50 Cockatoos of various ages and sizes and with various problems ranging from feather plucking and self mutilation and disabled to purely anti social Cockatoos who bite and scream due to their colourful past through no fault of their own.

How many staff / volunteers are involved?

Just myself and husband permanently, sometimes we have friends help out with various things.

A Success Story for Kakatua Bulu Cockatoo Sanctuary

Yes, Lorna is a Triton Cockatoo who came to us a number of years ago, she was imported from Sri Lanka by her previous owners, she has a coconut ring on her leg so was probably wild caught and imported legally (or illegally) into Sri Lanka.

She was feather plucked and SO noisy, last year the feather plucking got worse and we thought she was going to die, on visiting the vets she was found to have an internal illness possibly a tumor which may have been there for years and was now irritating her so the plucking got worse and she was picking her vent and making it bleed regularly.

She was treated with various medications and nothing worked, she was so bad she kept falling off the perch and crashing to the floor so she was put in a carry crate with a low perch so she would not hurt herself when she fell off and next to a radiator all the time she was so bald.

After months of treatment and nursing she now has a few feathers, not a lot but they are growing back, she still picks her vent and she still bleeds but she is still noisy which is a good thing!

What is your rehoming policy?

We don’t have a re-homing policy. Cockatoos are so difficult to re-home successfully, and after spending sometimes months and even years rehabilitating them it would undo all the work with them to then pass them on again, they are so sensitive the same old problems would recur and they would end up coming back like boomerangs.

How can people help?

By not purchasing Cockatoos as pets! No seriously we are in need of so many things ranging from newspapers for the bottom of the cages and sand for the floors of the aviaries to larger things such as food items and we are desperately in need of a quarantine facility.

The web site will accept donations shortly and the site also will have a small on-line shop selling toys, food and some cages, all profits go into the charity account for the upkeep of the birds. We could do with publicity so any help in the form of sending the website link and facebook page link to friends would be great.

Read about other charities and rescues here.