Dr Burcham,

Thank you for sharing your interest in this project! I too am very excited about what we have already discovered and the potential of this project above and beyond the physical anatomy book.

M. Scott Echols, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian Practice)

Shiwani,

Thank you for your kind words! Every day we learn more as a result of this project and I am excited by what we have found so far- more to come…..

For people interested in making donations to the Grey Parrot Anatomy Project, please make a check to ‘Department of Bioengineering’ with a note designating the funds are to go to ‘Hsu R&D Account for avian anatomy project’.

Checks can be mailed to:

Liz Porter
Associate Accountant
University of Utah
Bioengineering 3100 SMBB
36 S Wasatch Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84112

liz.porter@utah.edu
Ph: (801) 581-8952
Fax: (801) 585-5361
http://www.bioen.utah.edu

For people outside of the US, please e-mail Liz Porter (liz.porter@utah.edu) directly for instructions on making donations.

Thank you!

M. Scott Echols, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian Practice)

Dr Danza,

You certainly are not going for the easy questions! If you are referring to the decline of wild grey parrots in Africa the main causes are habitat destruction and poaching primarily for the pet trade. These birds cannot easily and legally be brought into the US or European Union because of respective laws. However, demand for wild parrots is still high in other parts of the world. Breeding more parrots alone will not stop the decline of wild parrots but can help with understanding their biology and potentially creating reintroduction programs (which come with a different set of problems). These are complicated topics that cannot be answered here. However many biologists, aviculturists and more have been considering these questions for years and are looking at a variety of options to help address the problems associated with the decline of numerous wild bird species.

Sincerely,

M. Scott Echols, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian Practice)

Kris,

All of the animals used in the Grey Parrot Anatomy Project have been donated. Many are already deceased (primarily natural deaths) and shipped to us for evaluation. However some are donated alive but with terminal problems (as determined by their attending veterinarian or caretaker and reviewed by me) to be humanely euthanized. We have no colony of research animals that we use. In fact, my initial requirement for the project was that we do not rely upon ‘research’ animals for the study. Regardless, no painful procedures are being performed on live animals. We are seeing clinical cases for non-invasive MRI or CT scanning. While those animals are not directly a part of the Grey Parrot Anatomy Project, we are using data obtained from their scans. You can see pictures of some of those animals on the webpage.

Further, the grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List and Appendix II by CITES. Besides our approach to not use research colony animals, we simply will not euthanize grey parrots just for the sake of this project. These animals have declining populations in the wild and we are able to collect the data we need through donations.

You asked an important question and I hope that you better understand how we use the animals in the study.

Sincerely,

M. Scott Echols, DVM, Dipl ABVP (Avian Practice)