Douglas (parrot)

Douglas (ca 1967 – 23 February 2019) was the male scarlet macaw that played the parrot Rosalinda in the 1970 Pippi Longstocking film Pippi in the South Seas.

Douglas
SpeciesScarlet macaw
SexMale
Hatched1967
Brazil
Died (aged 51)
Karlsruhe, Germany
OccupationActor
Notable roleRosalinda (Pippi in the South Seas)
Mate(s)Gojan (2005–2016; her death)

Douglas was imported from Brazil to Sweden in 1967, three years before starring in the movie. Douglas was capable of singing and of speaking a few dozen words in Swedish.

Later life

In 2002, 32 years after Pippi in the South Seas, Douglas garnered much attention in the Swedish press when authorities were considering putting him to death because his owner did not have the proper paperwork. A petition pleading for Douglas's life received over 50,000 signatures, including that of actress Inger Nilsson, who played Pippi in the 1970 movie. Ultimately Douglas was spared after his first owner in Sweden produced the correct paperwork, showing that Douglas had been legally imported from Brazil in 1967.[1][2]

In 2005, Douglas was moved to a small tropical zoo in Malmö where he lived with a female blue-and-yellow macaw called Gojan. In early 2016, Douglas once more attracted the attention of the Swedish (and later German) media when authorities once again had plans to put Douglas to death, this time because his three-square-meter cage was too small and prohibited Douglas from flying. The authorities requested an aviary of at least 30 square meters, which the zoo could not provide, but zoo director Frank Madsen argued that the 49-year-old Douglas was incapable of flying anyway and that there was no sense in cutting the parrot's remaining years short.[3] With the authorities unwilling to grant an exception, Madsen turned to the press and soon received more than 100 offers for a new home for Douglas and Gojan. Ultimately the Karlsruhe Zoo in Germany was selected and in April, Madsen himself delivered Douglas and Gojan to Karlsruhe,[4] where they were greeted with a public welcome party.[1][2][5]

After Gojan died at the age of 45 in September 2016, the zoo paired Douglas with Rubin,[6] a 22-year-old scarlet macaw that arrived in October.[7] Douglas died of natural causes at the Karlsruhe Zoo on 23 February 2019, aged 51.[8]

Notes
  1. Sigrid Harms: Papagei aus „Pippi Langstrumpf“: Douglas muss sterben. Spiegel Online, 7 April 2016 (German)
  2. Pippis Papagei darf weiterleben – in Karlsruhe. Der Tagesspiegel, 14 April 2016 (German)
  3. "Swedes protest Pippi parrot's 'death sentence'". www.thelocal.se. The Local Europe AB. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  4. Klaus, Esterluß (5 May 2016). "A movie star's sunset years". dw.com. DW Akademie. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  5. Pippis Papagei. Die Tageszeitung, 17 May 2016 (German)
  6. Papagei aus "Pippi Langstrumpf" – Ara Douglas ist jetzt Witwer . Spiegel Online, 23 September 2016 (German)
  7. "Rosalinda ist nicht mehr alleine: Roter Ara im Karlsruher Zoo angekommen". ka-news, 10 October 2016 (German)
  8. "Rosalinda" ist tot: Pippi Langstrumpfs Papagei stirbt im Karlsruher Zoo. ka-news, 24 February 2019 (German)
gollark: Are they actually likely to be different?
gollark: TJ09 is everywhere.
gollark: It's hard to click fast enough.
gollark: I can occasionally get unbreedables and easily get trios but not anything rarer than coppers.
gollark: They're generally very popular.
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