Rescuers flock together to save 275 parrots stranded by hurricane

A menagerie of birds including rare parrots has been rescued from a Florida wildlife sanctuary after its owners refused to evacuate without them in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

The mission, dubbed Operation Noah’s Ark, transported two lemurs and 275 exotic birds to West Palm Beach from Pine Island, where they will be housed until a collapsed bridge can be repaired and normal life restored to the island.

About a dozen volunteers caught and caged the parrots, then ferried them to Fort Myers using a small fleet of boats.

The rescue came about after Will Peratino and his partner Lauren Stepp would not leave their Pine Island compound, even as authorities pleaded with residents to abandon their homes.

But the couple could not leave without their menagerie, including some of the worlds rarest parrots, at the Malama Manu Sanctuary.

“If they cannot be fed or watered, they will die. And I can’t live with that.”

The birds have been relying on food donated by wildlife officials since Hurricane Ian hit, but the supply of fruit, peanuts and other edibles would soon be hard to come by because of the downed bridge and the scarcity of fuel on the island.

In the hours before the storm, the sanctuary owners herded their flock of birds and packed them into their home to shield them from the ferocity of the elements.

“To have every bird safe is a huge undertaking. I mean, it’s almost impossible to do. So the kind of help we’ve gotten has been invaluable.”

Many of the birds were rescued from homes that could no longer care for them. Some are used for breeding rare species.

Bryan Stern, the founder and leader of Project Dynamo, which assembled four boats for the mission, said his team has rescued at least six dogs, three cats and, before Tuesday’s massive rescue, three birds.

“Our animal numbers are about to be blown out of the water by 100 cages of parrots,” Mr Stern said, before embarking on the rescue mission.

Mr Stern said: “Will and Laura, who own the sanctuary, their hearts and souls are in the birds. So they’re going through their own suffering from the hurricane, and having to rebuild their lives. They lost all kinds of stuff. Is the answer to that to lose more?”

The crew of volunteers was not about to let that happen.

The birds – from macaws to cockatoos and rare specimens of king parrots (only two dozen pairs of which are kept in the United States) – squawked and flapped their wings as their handlers put them in cages.

Ghassan Abboud, a Chicago dentist who owns a bird farm in West Palm Beach, is an acquaintance of the sanctuary owners.

But by chance he came across the Project Dynamo team, who have been volunteering to help rescue people stranded by floodwaters and damaged roads.

Mr Abboud said: “I could never write a script like this. It was perfect. I thought I’d be back all day long in a small boat.

“What these guys have done has been unimaginable. They dedicated their resources. They saved so many birds.”