Parrots
in India’s Madhya Pradesh state are tearing apart plants to feed the habit
Local
farmers say they are on near constant alert to stop the birds getting
high
The opium
addicted parrots are stealing the farmers' most lucrative crop
PUBLISHED: 16:26,
25 February 2019 | UPDATED: 08:16, 26 February 2019
Flocks of
parrots believed to be addicted to opium have been ravaging crops on Indian
farms in order to feed their bizarre habit.
Footage
recorded in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state shows the birds indulging in
the unusual activity of tearing apart poppy seed pods to get to the opium
inside - much to the chagrin of the local farmers.
The wild
parrots have apparently learned to wait until the morphine-rich latex is
exposed after the farmers slit the poppy pods to help them ripen.
They then
silently swoop into the opium fields - having also learned not to squawk - and
frantically nibble off the stalks below the pod.
The
parrots have become so addicted that the farmers say they must be on
near-constant alert to stop the birds eating the seeds and getting
high.
Not only
have the wild flock become a menace that is wreaking havoc across the state,
but they are also stealing farmers' most lucrative crop.
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