Chris Packham has debunked the popular urban myth that Jimi Hendrix released green parakeets into London, stating that the story is simply untrue. The wildlife presenter explained that a single mating pair could not have created the current UK population of over 50,000 birds.
Parakeets Not Damaging UK Wildlife
Ring-necked parakeets are doing no damage to the UK's wildlife landscape, and it would be "reckless, culturally insensitive, and economically unviable" to try and remove them, according to Packham. He has made a documentary about the divisive, bright green birds, which originated from northern Pakistan and now number over 50,000 across the UK.
While some people claim they steal nesting sites from other birds and damage crops, the Channel 4 film speaks to experts who argue the parakeets are being unfairly targeted. Packham, 65, says there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that they are an invasive species. "At this point in time, and remember science is always a snapshot, we couldn't unearth any evidence at all, either from the scientists, or the anthropologists and others that they were causing any damage whatsoever," he told the Mirror.
Xenophobia Behind Parakeet Criticism
Packham believes fear of the unknown is behind those who have taken against the birds. "There is a genuine underlying xenophobia in life, which makes us fearful of change and new things. If we see rapid change, as we've seen with the expansion of the parakeets, it basically just frightens people. They think, oh my god, there's something wrong, we've got to instantly fix it. And of course, the most instant fix always comes from the barrel of a gun rather than from the data of a scientist and then an organised response."
He points out double standards, noting that 48% of UK terrestrial mammals originate from outside the country, including little owls, pheasants, and Canada geese. "I mean, what are you gonna do? There's four out of six deer species. Do we suddenly decide we're gonna exterminate all of those? Are we gonna exterminate all the brown hares? You know, potentially even harvest mice? There'd be nothing left."
Shooting Parakeets Is Vandalism
Those seen in the film shooting parakeets with air-guns are committing "random vandalism" that will do nothing to limit numbers. Packham says it is now too late for any organised cull to work, and it would be "inordinately expensive" even if there was merit in trying to reduce their numbers. "It would also be potentially dangerous because imagine gangs of blokes wandering around the London parks with 12 bores, I mean no one's gonna wear it, it's not gonna happen," he said.
Research shows many city dwellers, particularly younger people, are fans of the birds and "not going to stand for someone saying they're going to gas them all or shoot them all."
Jimi Hendrix Myth Debunked
In the one-off special, Packham also debunks the urban myth that the parakeets are in Britain because Jimi Hendrix released his girlfriend's pair of mating parakeets in the 1960s. Comparing the story to the Loch Ness monster, he said: "The genetic studies have shown that they've come from a very wide and diverse range of sources. Releasing two birds, who might fly off in opposite directions and never meet again, they're never going to get a population going. In order to establish a population of anything, it's quite hard. And that would require multiple escapes or releases."
Invasion of the Parakeets airs Monday 25th June on Channel 4 at 8pm.
