Galah causes biosecurity flap after sneaking onboard cruise ship
A pet galah caused a flap when she took herself on a 14-day luxury cruise from Brisbane to New Zealand, hatching biosecurity concerns on both sides of the Tasman.
Harri, the eight-year-old stowaway parrot, escaped her home in suburban Nundah on January 13 and her owners raised the alarm on social media.
Her family, Michelle, Brett and four-year-old daughter Georgia Cozzi, feared their much-loved pet was gone forever.
"She's definitely an integrated part of our family and we were all very sad when she flew away," Mrs Cozzi told 7 News.
"We’d hoped for her safe return but after Harri had been gone for a few days, it wasn’t looking good."
On January 24, the galah, which are native only to Australia, was spotted getting some sun on board a cruise ship three days after it had left the country.
The Sea Princess was headed towards Fiordland, on the southern end of New Zealand's South Island.
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Harri was microchipped and had a leg ring ID, so the captain contacted Australian and New Zealand biosecurity officials who were able to track down her owners to let them know the adventurous bird was on her own cruise adventure to New Zealand.
In an extraordinary twist, the Cozzi family was also away on a cruise trip of their own, on sister line P&O’s Pacific Aria, off Queensland when they received word their beloved pet was found safely.
"When the call came through from Agriculture Australia, it was a bit of a shock," Mrs Cozzi said.
“We are very excited to have Harri home because she is a much-loved member and indispensable part of our family,” Mrs Cozzi said on Sunday.
“It was amazing to discover she had been found on another cruise ship. It was just the best news possible.”
During her two-week New Zealand holiday, the adventurer was kept in her own room as the ship's crew followed strict biosecurity guidelines that enabled bird to return home without issue.
The agriculture department's acting head of animal biosecurity, Jackie South, said Harri spent her unexpected holiday locked in an unoccupied cabin on board the boat, checked on by New Zealand officials at each port.
"On return to Australia she passed a veterinary examination, and has now been returned to her owners, who themselves have just returned from a cruise," Ms South said on Sunday.
"Perhaps Harri felt she too needed a holiday, but Australia and New Zealand treat biosecurity very seriously, especially in regards to foreign species."
