An Amazonian parrot called Freddy Krueger has made headlines in Brazil after managing to find its way back to the zoo from which it was stolen while recovering from a four-year nightmare that saw it shot in a gun battle, abducted by armed thieves and bitten by a snake.
The turquoise-fronted Amazon parrot – whose Elm Street-inspired moniker stems from its bullet-disfigured face – was pilfered from a zoo in the southern city of Cascavel on the night of 16 April.
According to Brazil’s Folha de São Paulo newspaper, Freddie’s capture was just the latest in a series of misadventures to affect the Amazona aestiva bird.
Freddie was first brought to the zoo about four years ago, having been severely injured in a shootout between police and gangsters during a raid on the drug den where he had lived with his villain owner.
“In the shootout, [Freddie] was hit in the upper-beak … blinded and suffered burns to the feathers that grow between the eyes,” the Folha de São Paulo reported.
Freddie’s ordeal was far from over. Earlier this month, the parrot was reportedly bitten on the leg by a snake – thankfully of a non-venomous variety.
Freddie bled profusely but survived, only to be stolen days later when three armed raiders burst into Cascavel’s zoo, overpowered its security guard and made off with two parrots and a cylinder of gas.
Two days later, however, Freddie returned, discovered by zoo staff at the foot of a pine tree beside his cage.
The details of Freddie’s comeback remain murky, although drops of blood found near his former abode have fuelled speculation that the notoriously aggressive parrot bit his way out.
“He’s a bit of a wild one,” Ilair Dettoni, the zoo’s vet, was quoted as saying.
Dettoni suspected Freddie’s mangled features might have proven his salvation, given the limited market for deformed parrots. “I don’t know if Freddy is really unlucky or really lucky,” he said.
The second parrot and the gas cylinder have yet to be found.
