Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Chinese myna bird placed under house arrest for shouting 'f*** you' at visitors to zoo


Naughty: Myna birds are famed for their ability to mimic speech (file picture)

A rude myna bird has been put in solitary confinement at a zoo after shouting 'f*** you' at visitors. 
The bird had been trained to welcome people to Jiufeng Forest Zoo in Wuhan, central China, but keepers were shocked to hear it insulting tourists in recent weeks. 
Staff believe the bird picked up the rude words from visitors and signs have now been put up warning zoo-goers about teaching mynas bad language. 
A sign erected at the zoo read: 'Please do not use foul language to get a rise out of the Myna.'
The common myna bird has been isolated to stop the other birds from copying the rude words. 
Keepers say they will withhold food from the common myna bird when it swears and play tapes of polite words to change its bad habits. 
Caretaker Li Yun said he had heard some tourists try to teach the birds rude words. 
He told China's Global Times: 'The bird has a good memory. It's possible that some visitor taught it how to say these things.'
He said the birds are 'good mimics' and quick learners. 
Eight talking mynas were introduced to the zoo in 2010 from Vietnam and four of them were put on show to welcome visitors.
They were taught to speak in full Chinese sentences and welcomed people with phrases such as 'I wish you prosperity' and hello and goodbye. 
Myna birds are native to Asia and is a popular pet for its ability to mimic language.

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