Loro Parque unveils new Animal Embassy conservation and research installation

[Janet]

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Loro Parque has unveiled a new installation, Animal Embassy, which has been given the stamp of approval by various protection associations including the National Association for the Defence of Animals. In a preview visit to the parque, the associations saw first hand some of the animal welfare, conservation and education activities carried out there, as well as the cutting-edge research which the Loro Parque Foundation is undertaking. These will all be on display in the new Animal Embassy facility, a new area of over 2,200 square metres comprising five buildings based on an African village theme. Animal Embassy will open to the public shortly.

One of the five buildings will house a research centre into birds' cognitive development. The work is linked to the prestigious Max Planck Institute in Germany where there is an area of ​​research into great apes who are observed in situ in a zoo in Leipzig. Loro Parque's research into birds' cognition is pioneering because the field of cognitive development resesarch has mainly focused on primates and some mammals like dolphins. In the avian world, it is a new field which thus far has only touched on New Caledonian crows and cockatoos. Loro Parque says that the new Animal Embassy facilities offer a unique opportunity to advance this field of knowledge in parrots. JA