Topline:
Last week, a video surfaced of a man carrying what appeared to be a red-crowned parrot, captured in a net, to his car in a Temple City parking lot. Law enforcement officials have interviewed him and said they believe he took the animal home, cut it out of the net and released it.
Nets all over: Animal control has removed multiple nets hung in trees across Temple City. It’s unclear who’s hanging them.
See a parrot poacher?: If you see someone putting up the nets, call the non-emergency number for the L.A. County Sheriff’s Temple Station at 626-285-7171.
Last week, a TikTok video surfaced of an unidentified person in Temple City, lofting a parrot trapped in a white net over a small block wall and stepping into his car.
Multiple local news stories followed, as did outrage at the person who people believed may be a parrot poacher.
Since then, L.A. County sheriff’s deputies have interviewed the person in the video and have determined that he didn’t commit a crime. They did not release his name.
“He did not put up the nets, has no idea who put up the nets, but he has picked up a couple of parrots,” said Detective Sergeant Richard Lewis. “We went to his house. He has no parrots.”
The man told deputies that when he returned home with the parrot, he cut it out of the net while standing in his carport and it flew away. He reportedly found a second trapped parrot and tried to free it, but it died.
The animal appears to be a red-crowned parrot, which has struggled to survive in its native habitat in Northeastern Mexico. They’re thriving here in Southern California, likely arriving as a result of the pet trade some time in the 1970s. In places like Temple City and Pasadena, you can see and hear pandemoniums (a flock of parrots) flying between trees.
Animal control has removed multiple nets strung up between trees in Temple City, though it’s unclear who’s putting them up and why.
Besides the two parrots associated with the man, another was recently found dead on the road.
If you’re in Temple City and you see someone putting up or taking down a net, call the Sheriff Department's non-emergency number at 626-285-7171.
