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Thursday, May 22, 2008
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Talking its way home

Tokyo: When Yosuke, the parrot, flew out of its cage and got lost, it did exactly what it had been taught — recite its name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbour’s roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo.

After spending a night at the station, the bird was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

It kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

“I’m Mr. Yosuke Nakamura,” the bird told the veterinarian, according to Mr. Uemura. The parrot also provided its full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

“We checked the address, and what do you know, a Nakamura family really lived there. So we told them we’ve found Yosuke,” Mr. Uemura said.

The Nakamura family told police they had been teaching the bird its name and address for about two years.

But the bird apparently was not keen on opening up to police officials.

“I tried to be friendly and talked to him, but he completely ignored me,” Mr. Uemura said. — AP

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