IDA to Present Petition at City Hall to Protect the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Organization Gathers Support for Legislation to Preserve Parrot Habitat in San Francisco

San Francisco, Calif.—International animal protection organization In Defense of Animals (IDA) has collected more than 4,400 signatures on behalf of the world-famous birds who starred in the acclaimed documentary "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" in the hopes of ensuring the preservation of their habitat on the Greenwich Steps in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. On Monday, March 5th, IDA representatives will join other wild parrot advocates at the Land Use Committee hearing scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in room 263 of City Hall and present their petitions in support of proposed legislation to protect the parrots' habitat.

"The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" documents the special friendship the parrots share with self-described "dharma bum" Mark Bittner, who lives in a house on the Greenwich Steps and has spent the last decade studying, feeding, caring for and protecting the flock of over 200 birds. Almost overnight, the film turned the wild parrots into beloved icons of urban wildlife, cherished alike by residents and visitors to the City by the Bay. That is why controversy raged in October 2005 when the absentee landowner of a North Beach property adjacent to Bittner's cottage cut down three of five Monterey cypress trees that comprise a key part of the parrots' habitat on the Greenwich Steps. Bittner only managed to save the remaining two trees by running out of his cottage and standing between the cypresses and chainsaws, refusing to move until the engines were silenced and negotiations for their protection resumed.

Bittner's knowledge of the trees' importance to the survival of the parrots convinced the city to enter a two-year-long negotiation process with the landowner to save the wild parrots' habitat. Bittner and other parrot allies argue that, without the cypress grove, the birds would no longer have a secure perch from which to watch for hawks in the Greenwich Steps garden, because they are the tallest trees in the area. San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty agrees, and has proposed legislation that would provide for the pruning and maintenance of the two surviving cypress trees, mandate the planting of up to six new parrot-friendly trees, and protect the property owner from legal liability should the dying trees happen to fall before being replaced. The Northeast San Francisco Conservancy has raised around $5,000 from donations, which is enough to pay an arborist to prune and preserve the trees until the new ones are established.

More than 2,700 people signed IDA's original petition last year in support of preserving the wild parrots' habitat. Supervisor Dufty said he received more emails in favor of helping the parrots than on any other issue since taking office in 2003, prompting him to propose this innovative piece of legislation, which he cited as "an example to other cities that they can work creatively to protect their animal wonders." By presenting their petitions, IDA hopes to show Land Use Committee members that there is widespread support for the parrots and convince them to pass Dufty's proposal and send it on to the full San Francisco Board of Supervisors for a vote.

To read IDA's most recent petition, visit www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/557131157. To learn more about San Francisco's wild parrots, visit www.markbittner.net/parrots_central.html.