Death and a Zoo

Hey, what would you do,
Caught between Death - Death and a zoo?
What if your world was stuck in a cage?
Would you feel rage, boy?
Caught in the crossfire,
stung by the cold wire,
would it feel lonely?

Hey, what would you give,
so that your heart in freedom could live?
What if your love was stuck in a cage,
hey, don't you feel rage, boy?
Caught in a landslide, where does the child hide?
Does he feel lonely?

So cold on the inside,
where does the Sun hide?
Caught in a man's dream,
silent the heart scream,
Don't it feel lonely?

Lyrics from the song Death and a Zoo from Roger Hodgson's album Open the Door (1999)

Blue and Yellow Macaws are found in lowland areas from Panama all the way to Paraguay. They seem to prefer forests of moderate density but are also seen in palm trees above water sources such as swamps or rivers. Hollows of dead trees are their favourite locations for nest building. Macaws also mate for life, nesting from January to April in the holes of dead canopy trees. Mated adults lay up to two eggs per year, and preen each other and their offspring for hours, cleaning parasites from their feathers.
Although Blue and Yellow Macaws are not considered to be endangered, their numbers are dwindling. This is primarily due to habitat encroachment and the capture of these birds for use as pets. However, because more tourists are bringing in money to see these birds in the wild, environmentalists hope that local governments will devote more attention to the protection of these magnificent birds.

I saw this specimen for sale for £1250 at a local garden centre, and felt compelled to take a picture of the (to my mind) unfortunate bird. I popped the colour to contrast its colourful tropical splendour with the cold grey steel of the cage. I have printed off a copy and sent it to the pet shop owner expressing my concern and asking them not to stock such an animal in their shop in the future.

The lyrics I have used seemed to fit the plight of this macaw perfectly. In fact, a zoo, with its bigger landscaped enclosures allowing limited flight would be paradise compared to the life that this individual will seemingly have to endure.