A wildly brazen thief snatched a coveted African Grey parrot from a New Jersey bird store in a caught-on-camera daylight sortie that stunned the store’s owner and left her terrified for the afflicted avian’s life.
The unidentified suspect wore a dark Nike hoodie when he strode into Birds by Joe 2 on Route 46 in Saddle Brook in Bergen County about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and asked owner Katarina Rukavishnikova if he could see the pricey parrot, which costs a cool $7,000.
“This guy came in and started asking all the right questions,” Rukavishnikova told The Post on Monday. “I thought, ‘OK, he’s going to buy the bird.’ “
But that’s when the man suddenly seized the cage with the bird inside and flew the coop, leaving the shocked owner in his wake, according to NJ.com.
“It actually took me a few seconds to realize what was happening — the reality of it,” she said. “This never happened to us.”
The store’s security cameras caught the whole thing, and Birds by Joe later posted screengrabs to the store’s Instagram account.
Now, Rukavishnikova just wants the bird back home.
“We definitely hope the bird is OK and alive,” she said. “Yes, it’s a lot of money that we’re losing. But at the same time, I’m more concerned about the well-being of the bird.
“Is it being taken care of? Because this person is all over the news, did he drop the bird somewhere? That’s my main concern.”
African Greys, which are known for their intelligence and uncanny mimicry skills, are coveted exotic pets that could fetch a pretty penny on the black market.
Natives of Africa’s lowland forests, the species is one of the world’s most heavily trafficked — more than 1.3 million have been detected in the international trade since 1975, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Cops are requesting help finding the suspect and have asked anyone with information to call the Saddle Brook Police Detective Bureau at 201-587-2940.
