East Auckland, last year you found George the dog after he was missing for nine long weeks, and now it’s time to find Pablo the bird.
Pablo’s a large and colourful blue and gold macaw who lives in Russell in the Bay of Islands with his owners Lulu and Hamish Peterson.
An incident two weeks ago sparked him to take flight and he’s somehow made it all the way down to east Auckland.
He’s been spotted in areas including Howick, Pakuranga, Cockle Bay, and Pigeon Mountain.
Lulu Peterson told the Times Pablo flew south from Russell on January 29.
She put a post on her local Facebook page about him being missing which led to her being informed of sightings of him in the local community.
“We took off in the car in our work clothes as we were standing and drove down to Auckland. We’ve been here ever since.”
She says Pablo turned three years old in December last year, weighs about 1kg, and is about 60cm from head to tail.
“He’s highly trained and very well socialised and he absolutely adores children.
“He’s been trained to land on people if they put their arm out to the side with a clenched fist.
“If people don’t want him to land on them they should cross their hands and wave them in front of their face.
“We fly him on the beach in Russell and people adore him.
“We’ve had people with bird phobias able to hold him and they’re amazed at how gentle he is.”
Peterson says someone is more likely to hear Pablo before they see him if he’s in the neighbourhood.
He loves sitting on power lines, scaffolding, and dead trees, she says.
“The most important thing for us is we want to reiterate how bloody amazing east Auckland and Howick have been with support.
“We’ve had people come and bring us food and coffees. It’s just incredible.
“Wherever we go – we’ve been walking the streets since last Wednesday – there’s little children calling ‘Pablo! Pablo!’.”
The Petersons initially stayed in the CBD while searching for Pablo in east Auckland but have also stayed with a person in Howick and most recently at a motel in Half Moon Bay.
“We’re doing 19-hour days at the moment,” Lulu Peterson says.
She says he “goes bananas” for Chunky dog roll and that’s being used to try to find him.
“We don’t feed him that but the dogs get it and he goes absolutely mental because he wants a tiny little piece.
“We went out and bought 10 or more rolls of Chunky dog food and put them on stakes all around the area.
“We’ve just had a message from the chief executive of Chunky saying they paid our accommodation for last night and tonight.
“We’re so incredibly grateful and happy because it takes a lot of pressure off.”
Anyone who sees or hears Pablo can phone or text his owners on 021 102 9841.
