Everyone loves a good reunion story, especially after a significant amount of time has passed. There’s a sense of renewal, a sense of relief, and an overflow of unavoidable emotions that are part of love, happiness, and a brand-new lease on connection and greater responsibility.
There is an earlier story of a parrot lost in Los Angeles who was reunited with his original owner after a period of four years. The parrot’s name is Nigel and, on his return, spoke only Spanish instead of the British-accented English he had learned before. Fortunately, Nigel was micro-chipped, giving the return a happy ending. The owner discovered that the parrot was sold to a family in Torrance, CA, and opted to do quite an unselfish thing by “gifting” Nigel to the last owners that Nigel (now known as Morgan) had. The story, although bittersweet, was a beautiful one. There are others, no doubt. But this new story centers around a parrot named Jako.
Jako Says His Name
Jako is an African Grey parrot from France who was stolen from its original owner. The bird has been missing for a long period of three years, a point where the owner had likely given up hope for the return of the bird. There were the usual reports to authorities concerning the theft, the expected search period, and obviously the mournful period of grief over the loss of Jako. But then a wonderful thing happened by way of remembrance and habit. The remembrance was from a police official in Marseilles; the habit from the bird who would excitedly say its name. The police officer who owned Jako had previously told his co-police officers about this trait back in 2020, when the bird was stolen.
The Old Port of Marseilles is an end-of- street location, an ancient place of commerce that has a resource of vendors selling many things. In this case, one vendor was attempting to sell an African grey parrot, the sale of which is considered an illegal effort in France. Police closed in on the vendor, and as they took possession of the bird, it shouted its name, “Jako,” repeatedly. The officer remembered that his fellow officer had lost a bird in the past spurred on by the tale that the bird would say his name. And that name was Jako. (Jako is a noun that means simply – African grey.) This knowledge set into motion the return of the parrot who had been missing for those long, long three years.
After a brief time of contact efforts, Jako was reunited with his original owner. It’s reported that as soon as Jako saw his pal, he excitedly shouted his own name…as expected. And thus ends this tale of loss and return, one with an ending worth squawking about. As anyone will know, losing a cared-for pet, especially one that has brought extraordinary happiness and untold fulfillment to a family, is an incomparable sadness. Often, the grief is never lost but long remains as a hole. This story brings hope.
We’re glad to see Jako and his owner brought back together!
9 Comments