Opium-Addicted Parrots Are Terrorizing Poppy Farms in India

[Judi Lynn]

By Brandon Specktor, Senior Writer | March 5, 2019 06:54am ET

Poppy farmers in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India have reportedly run into some trouble while cultivating this season's crops. In addition to inconsistent rainfall putting a damper on things, flocks of persistent parrots — presumed to be addicted to opium — are rampaging through the poppy farms, sometimes making 40 visits a day to get their fix.

"One poppy flower gives around 20 to 25 grams of opium. But a large group of parrots feed on these plants around 30 to 40 times a day," one poppy cultivator in the Neemuch district of central India told Indian news site NDTV.com. "This affects the produce. These opium-addicted parrots are wreaking havoc."

According to NDTV, bird raids have become a daily menace in the poppy fields, and farmers claim to be sustaining significant crop losses thanks to these poppy-seeking parrots. Some birds have been filmed tearing into unripe poppy pods (where opium-rich milk resides), while others use their beaks and claws to snip off the plants at their stalks and fly away with entire intact pods. The Daily Mail reported that some birds have even trained themselves not to squawk when descending on the fields, swooping in and out like silent ninjas. [9 Weird Ways You Can Test Positive for Drugs]

District officials have ignored requests to help keep the feathered menace in check, the farmer told NDTV, leaving poppy purveyors to fend for themselves. Some cultivators have been forced to guard their fields day and night. Others have reportedly turned to sonic warfare, shouting at the birds through loudspeakers or detonating firecrackers in their vicinity. Unfortunately, the farmer said, these attempts have failed to mitigate crop losses.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/64908-parrots-poppy-farm-india.html?utm_source=notification

[mr_lebowski]

1. Goes to show you deep-seated and ancient (from an evolutionary standpoint) the opioid-reward

mechanism is.

I mean you expect this in chimps or mice or other mammals, but BIRDS? I mean, birds are just slightly evolved reptiles, i.e. dinosaurs, basically.

Do snakes and lizards get addicted to opium as well? How about NEWTS? Or Sharks?

I mean, just how OLD is this neurological pathway?

It's really no wonder how powerfully addicting this class of drugs is to humans ... when you consider it even affects BIRDS. It is deep, deep rooted in our biological heritage.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Good point.

Quite a bit of difference between their brains and ours.

[3Hotdogs]

2. Happy Parrots

[Ponietz]

3. They'll be spraying with Narcan soon

I guess Narcan would work on a 🦜.

[Javaman]

4. Polly want a fix? nt