I visited Dr. Pepperberg yesterday at the Featherlust Bird shop. Her university contract was cut short and she will be unemployed as of this September. Any donations (even small ones) to
www.alexfoundation.org would be very much appreciated. Dr.
Pepperberg's research has opened many people's eyes to the intelligence of parrots, and it would be a shame to see her work end prematurely.
My understanding is that most of her funding is through private donations via alexfoundation.org. I think she was also getting some funding through the university. She had a five year contract with them that they reneged on after two years! She will literally be unemployed as of this September. It's really a shame since just a five dollar donation from each person who owns an African Grey would keep her in business.
Thanks. That is a relief to me that she can keep them...I sure hope another U "picks them up"!
Alex, Griffin, and Wart thankfully belong to Dr. Pepperberg. My impression (opinion) is that Dr. Pepperberg is having trouble getting universities to take her work seriously.
Will Alex stay with her or does he belong to the U?
I think it's amazing what she trained Alex to do, but I think the bird was heavily stressed. Watching him say that he want's to go back while she is drilling him for tasks seems a bit much. It makes me a bit sad. Sticking things in his face all day. Then not connecting with the bird emotionally. We may know about greys, but poor Alex in my opinion.
luvparrots (05-08-2010)
I feel the same way, Elv. I have read Dr. Pepperberg's book, and frankly it made me a bit sad. Alex passed away very prematurely, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were brought on by stress. Alex was a 30 year research project who was pushed to the extreme limits of his capabilities continually. I also feel that this may have been a contributing factor to his feather plucking. While we can all be grateful for the insights Dr. Pepperberg gave us into Grey intelligence and behavior, Alex was somewhat saccrificial in the process. JMHO.
luvparrots (05-08-2010)
Here's a site that might interest some... http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/02/pepperberg.aspx
You really need to meet the Dr. Jayd
Last edited by Jayd; 05-08-2010 at 02:08 AM.
A Grey is a wild animal removed from the wild, bred to be companions. They are long removed from being able to take care of themselves but not so long as to forget at times they're still wild...so it's up to us to make sure we protect them. We're the reason they demand all this attention. We removed them from the wild. Jay
Dr. Pepperberg also has a book out that is much more about the actual studies than her life with Alex. It is fascinating if you enjoy scholarly works as I do. It is called The Alex Studies. I learned an awful lot. I read it when I was in the amazon and also learned a lot about other studies on parrots both in the lab and in the wild and it was a perfect learning tool while I was also getting to see the parrots in their natural habitat. For example, did you know that Macaws have dialects? One group of Macaw's will have their own sounds unique to their small group but they will also speak two or three dialects of the other Macaw's in the groups near them.
Enjoyed the article JayD. Thanks for sharing. I have great respect for Dr. Pepperberg!
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